Finland's top diplomat Tytti Turpurainen: We expect the EC to start work on opening negotiations for Albania and N. Macedonia

 Tytti Turpurainen

 “The French proposal is very broad. It is a good thing that member states have their own proposals, but we have to wait for the new European Commission team to start working so that we can achieve unanimity in opening negotiations with the two countries."

Finnish Foreign Minister Tytti Turpurainen made this statement at the opening of a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels today.

Finland has been one of the countries that have supported Albania since the beginning of opening negotiations and has been committed to lobbying to other member states for a positive decision on the last October 18.

The Finnish Foreign Minister Tytti Turpurainen holds also the EU presidency.

While Amélie DE Montchalin, Secretary of State for European Affairs said:

"We see that the accession negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro have weaknesses. We want to make the process more efficient, tangible and beneficial for the citizens of the Balkans.

There are other countries that support France, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, but also Italy, which are calling on the EC to propose the enlargement reform.

Western Balkan citizens do not need chapters, they need tangible results of reforms."