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Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

North Macedonia, Albania to start accession talks with EU

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 19 Jul 2022 16:19
2 Min Read

EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen is hosting the talks for the accession of the two countries.

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  • North Macedonia, Albania to start accession talks with EU
    North Macedonia, Albania to start accession talks with EU

The negotiation talks regarding the accession of North Macedonia and Albania to the European Union began today in Brussels, in the presence of EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Both countries discussed chapters of the acquis, a number of topics that correspond to the different areas of the acquis for which reforms are needed in order to meet the accession conditions. 

At present, it is uncertain how long the process will take, as no timeframes have been specified for the completion. 

Long-term candidacies

Albania has been an EU candidate country since 2014, while North Macedonia had held her candidacy since 2005.

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The start of negotiations was made possible by the signing on Sunday by Bulgaria and North Macedonia of a bilateral protocol initiated by France, which ensured the continued rotating presidency of the EU in the first half of the year.

The protocol will also allow Macedonian to become one of the official languages of the EU. Bulgaria was blocking the opening of negotiations until recently due to a dispute between the two countries over a long list of historical and linguistic issues.

North Macedonia gained EU candidate status nearly 20 years ago and already had to overcome major obstacles with Greece to join NATO in March 2020. The Bulgarian position also prevented the candidacy of Albania, a candidate since 2014.

The Bulgarian parliament agreed last month to lift its veto in exchange for guarantees that North Macedonia would meet certain demands on disputed points.

Language disputes

The language issue remains very sensitive in North Macedonia: Bulgaria considers the Macedonian language as a Bulgarian dialect, while the two countries dispute over historical events and figures, mainly inherited from the Ottoman past.

North Macedonia has pledged to change its constitution to include Bulgarians among recognized ethnic groups and to implement a 2017 friendship treaty aimed at eradicating hate speech.

Far-right party VMRO-DPMNE has denounced the compromise in recent days and called Dimitar Kovacevski a "traitor" in their online newspapers.

Brussels insists on the enlargement of the EU in the Balkans, and the strategic importance of the region has increased in the context of the war in Ukraine.  

  • Albania
  • North Macedonia
  • European Union
  • EU Membership

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