Reps. Tenney and Keating Lead Bipartisan Letter on Integration of Western Balkans into the European Union

Washington, DC – Representatives Claudia Tenney (NY-22) and Chairman of the Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber Subcommittee William R. Keating (MA-09), both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led their colleagues in a bipartisan letter to the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United States urging Bulgaria to resolve a bilateral dispute that is preventing Albania and North Macedonia from launching their EU accession negotiations.

A signed copy of the representatives’ letter can be found here and complete text of the letter is below. 

Dear Ambassador Stoytchev,

We, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, write you on the heels of a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on the Western Balkans. During that hearing members of Congress recognized that the Western Balkans are a complex, dynamic, and geostrategic region in Europe. Members also underscored that these countries have worked hard to resolve regional disputes, establish democracy and ultimately foster the political processes necessary to speedily integrate into the European Union. Through similar efforts, three of the Western Balkan countries, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, have successfully joined NATO. For these reasons, members of Congress—from both sides of the aisle--voiced their strong support for the swift integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union. 

At the same time, members of Congress recognized that, despite North Macedonia and Albania having met the requirements to begin accession negotiations with the European Union, there remains a dispute between your country and North Macedonia that is preventing Albania and North Macedonia from starting these talks. 

Ambassador Stoytchev, the continued delay of North Macedonia and Albania’s progress toward European Union membership has cast doubt on the commitments made by Western leaders, opening a door for anti-Western political influences throughout the region, particularly those from China and Russia. We believe eventual EU membership for North Macedonia and Albania is critical for long-term peace and stability within the Balkan region and for the whole of the transatlantic community.

As such, we write you today as bi-partisan members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, to urge you to reach a final resolution to this bilateral dispute that will allow Albania and North Macedonia to launch their EU accession negotiations before year’s end. We hope you will put your differences aside and support the full political integration of the North Macedonia and Albania into the European Union. 

###