EU’s rejection speeds emigration from west Balkans, says leader

Bloomberg

Depriving western Balkan countries of a clear chance to join the European Union risks speeding up the already alarming pace of people emigrating away from the region, North Macedonia’s president said.
Stevo Pendarovski said that France’s decision to block the opening of accession talks with his country and Albania — and president Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that there should be tougher rules for prospective members — has only intensified a feeling of betrayal in Europe’s most volatile region.
And with living standards stagnating, more people are leaving countries that are already suffering from shrinking populations and political disappointment.
“If I weren’t president, I would myself move out of my country,” Pendarovski said in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. Average net salaries of about $440 a month meant young people in North Macedonia don’t want to “waste the only life they have while negotiations with the EU take years and years,” he said.
Besides Albania, the other western Balkan EU aspirants are Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.