Zoran Zaev, head of the government of Northern Macedonia, has called for early elections after EU leaders failed to agree on launching accession negotiations with the Balkan country at the Brussels summit.
"Two days ago, a great injustice happened," he said at a press conference in Skopje. "We have been victims of a huge historical error." A date for the early parliamentary election did not name Zaev. But it should take place at the earliest possible date.
As requested by the EU, Zaev had settled the name dispute with Greece in order to facilitate accession negotiations. The EU Commission had already certified North Macedonia in 2018 to have implemented all necessary reforms.
Nevertheless, the Member States recently postponed for the third time in Brussels their decision to launch accession negotiations. (Read more about the background here.) France led the front of the opponents and thus prevented the necessary unanimity.
The outgoing European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker spoke of a "serious historical error". According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EU states want to "come back to the topic" before the planned summit with the Western Balkan countries under the Croatian presidency in May 2020. This could theoretically be done at the EU summits in December or March.