Leaders of the EU institutions called on the 27 member states to start negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia to join the union by the end of October. 

The letter, which was signed by the leaders of the four EU institutions on 3 October, said: "The European Union stands before a strategic choice. 

"Whether the EU decides now to open accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania is a test of the Union's ability to deliver on its promise and look to the future."  

This was the strongest support both countries have received from the EU since the union agreed in 2018 that negotiations should begin. 

One of the reasons that negotiations were delayed in 2018, and then again in June of this year, was because the Union was busy trying to plan for Brexit. 

Germany has agreed to start talks with North Macedonia by the end of 2019 and is open to negotiations with Albania in the future.

Not all 27 member states want Albania and North Macedonia in the bloc, though.  

France and the Netherlands are reluctant to let in new member states as the Union is currently trying to deal with corruption in other Eastern European countries. 

How do they stack up? 

Albania and North Macedonia fall far behind the 28 member states when it comes to unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP) and population. 

The average GDP of the 28 member states is 615 billion US dollars in 2018. In the same year, Albania had a GDP of 15 billion, and North Macedonia had a GDP of 13 billion. 

If admitted, North Macedonia would have the lowest GDP in the union, right after Malta which had a GDP of $14.5 billion last year. 

Both countries would also be below the GDP average of the five countries with the smallest GDPs: Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta. 

Last year this average was $35.8 billion. 

The two countries are also behind in both population and unemployment. The average unemployment rate of the EU 28 countries is 6%. The average in Albania is 12.34%, and in North Macedonia it is 20.7%. 

Albania has the third highest unemployment rate if it joined the union, with only Greece and Spain having higher rates. North Macedonia's unemployment rate is just behind Greece, which is currently 19.3%. 

Both Albania and North Macedonia have populations lower than the average in the EU 28. The population of Albania is 2.8 million, and 2 million in North Macedonia. However, there are already two countries in the union with smaller populations: Estonia with 1.3 million people and Cyprus with 1.2 million.