French President Emmanuel Macron refused to allow North Macedonia to begin talks aimed at joining the EU and joined a group of leaders who blocked talks with Albania, despite concerns about Russia's influence in the Balkans, Reuters reported.

Northern Macedonia, Albania and four other Balkan states: Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, are trying to join the European bloc after the wars in the 1990s, which led to the collapse of Yugoslavia.

According to the agency with reference to the diplomat in the EU, despite the fact that EU countries consider the membership of these countries in the bloc unavoidable, quite an emotional debate on this topic took place at the Brussels summit.

Macron said no progress would be made on the membership of Albania and Northern Macedonia until the EU changed the conditions for checking nominated candidate states for compliance with conditions that range from economic policies to human rights and the rule of law.

According to the source of the agency, Macron insisted on his position, despite the attempt by Germany and other countries to put forward a new plan.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in hist turn, said that this was a historical mistake.

According to him, he is very disappointed.