European Union general discussion

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

EU to open accession talks with Albania, North Macedonia

Bulgaria seems to have relented and reached a deal with North Macedonia:

N. Macedonia agrees compromise for EU membership talks: PM

How soon can it complete all negotiations, meet all criteria, & officially join? By the end of this decade? By mid-century?

It depends.  In Croatia's case it took about a decade between applying for EU membership in 2003, and then officially joining the organization in 2013.  So probably early in the next decade. 

Croatia may well have been further along the road (even at the start of its official candidacy) than Albania and North Macedonia are now, when it comes to meeting all of the EU acquis. Serbia and Montenegro are ahead of these two but their progress could be described as slow, at best. They have been candidates for years and governance in Albania/NM isn’t much better.

Joining in the early 2030s is a possibility but far from certain.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

"The renewed push for a larger Europe marks the first such expansion drive since the bloc accepted Croatia into its ranks in 2013."

NATO members Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania, seem likely to be the countries that are the closest to joining the EU:

https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1701319709935743436?s=20

Iceland is the closest. The polls shifted in favour of joining in the last couple of years, and the Eurosceptic government is unpopular there.

I don't think they are as determined to pursue membership as these other countries, but there's a decent chance they do - and if they do, the process will be much quicker for them, in part because they may be well be able to unfreeze their old membership application.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Serbia also deserves a mention here. The EU increasingly favours them in regional spats, Vucic is angling for closer ties as much as the local population will allow him to, and on most issues besides their neighbours, they are more of a European team player than Hungary.

I'm not saying this is ideal, but I think it's the reality.