Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are processes for applications to the European Union, which have been going on for quite a long time. In my view, there has been a lot of meddling and manipulation going on in the geopolitical world. We saw that, for instance, with vaccines. It is interesting that Russia was offering Sputnik to various countries in the western Balkans, notwithstanding that it had not vaccinated its own population to any significant degree. It was doing so for geopolitical reasons, namely, to court favour with certain countries. In my view, the application processes for some countries have gone too slowly. I instance North Macedonia and Albania, which have made huge progress. We met with representatives of those countries before Christmas and are meeting with other representatives from the western Balkans.

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