Macedonia on track for EU accession talks but not Albania -diplomats

FILE PHOTO: North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev shakes hands with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - North Macedonia is likely to win European Union support to start membership talks later this year, diplomats say, but its Balkan neighbour Albania faces opposition in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Despite EU rhetoric that the bloc needs to accept new members from the Western Balkans to cement their European path and offset Chinese and Russian influence, anti-immigration sentiment has raised doubts in some northern EU states.