Author: Dr. Bob Thiel

Expansion of the European Union is in the minds of many countries and many leaders. The EU announced it has finally opened official negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania:

EU launches membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia
19 July 2022
North Macedonia and Albania opened accession talks with the European Union on Tuesday after years of setbacks and letdowns.
Any expansion of the world’s largest trade bloc is likely to take years, and both countries have already been considered potential candidates since 2003.
What caused the delay?
The delay was partly due to a long-running dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, which had served as an effective roadblock to EU membership talks.
At the weekend, North Macedonia agreed to change its constitution to protect the Bulgarian minority in the country, allowing for membership talks to restart. …
Why is this happening now?
The negotiations come at a critical time for the EU, as officials reach out to war-torn Ukraine to offer it potential membership despite stalling the inclusion of the Western Balkan nations for nearly two decades.
However, a growing nationalist movement in North Macedonia could threaten to upend the process, as anti-European voices gain traction and fuel the flames of unrest in much of the Balkan region. https://www.dw.com/en/eu-launches-membership-negotiations-with-albania-and-north-macedonia/a-62521603

The above neglected to mention that Macedonia was pressured to change its name to North Macedonia because Greece had objected. I spoke with someone from Macedonia about this once in an airport and he was not pleased that they had to change the name of their country to North Macedonia. But that did happen in February 2019.

As far as why this is happening now, there is much interest from the EU towards the Western Balkans because pf the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

As reported here before, the EU wants the Balkans, not only because they are part of Europe but, because they do not want Serbia to remain an ally of Russia. The Serbs fought against the Axis powers (which included Germany, Bulgaria, and Italy) in WWII. The Germans would prefer to have some control over Serbia and do not want to fight the Serbs in the future. The EU also wants to cement all of the Balkans to it. Albania is interesting because it, like Kosovo (which Serbia claims) is primarily Muslim. This may assist Europe when it makes some deals related to the coming Islamic King of the South.

The entire area of the Balkans is of prophetic interest.

One of the reasons why is that Bible prophecy teaches that the European Beast power will expand to the south and the east.

Towards the end of World War II, the three small European nations of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg agreed to form a trading alliance known as Benelux.

Benelux, itself, became a model for the European Economic Community (EEC), and then the formation of the European Union. This united Europe has mainly expanded south and east of the Benelux nations and is still officially based in one of them.

Notice that, in Daniel 8, the Bible prophesied that a little horn would mainly expand South and East:

9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. (Daniel 8:9-12).

And while the above has had a past fulfillment, this prophecy seems to be dual (compare with Daniel 11:27-39).

Currently, approximately 450 million people are now under a new, single (though not completely united) government, called the European Union, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

The Balkans, including Albania and North Macedonia are south and east of the Benelux nations.

Currently, approximately 450 million people (excluding most of the Balkan nations) are now under a new, single (though not completely united) government, called the European Union, headquartered in Brussels.

Those groups (such as PCG and LCG) that tend to insist that the final European Beast power will only have ten or eleven nations may be caught unexpectedly (cf. Luke 21:34) if the final Beast power has more (the European Union currently has 27 members and is negotiating with a hlf-dozen or so other nations. See also Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?)

In the old Radio Church of God, the late evangelist Dr. Hoeh taught that this little horn of Daniel 8 was the power that would become the final King of the North:

Turn in your Bible to verse 9: “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” …
The King of the North
The little horn in Daniel 8 is none other than the LAST KING of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s Empire. He is, in fact, the final “King of the North” described in Daniel 11. (Hoeh H. The 2300 Days. Plain Truth, August 1965)

Consider also the following:

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing stream,
Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations … (Isaiah 30:27-28)

From a prophetic perspective, we appear to be seeing some sifting/separation between some of the peoples that live within the borders of Ukraine as well as Georgia and Moldova. According to Bible prophecy, those that appear to have descended from the ancient Medes will mainly ultimately align with Russia as well as some of Elam (perhaps including Serbia and some others in the Balkans).

The European Union has demonstrated a history and willingness to enlarge and is having many meetings about it. The EU is interested in the Balkans. The U.S.A. keeps encouraging all of this, but this will not end well for the U.S.A. (cf. Daniel 11:39; Isaiah 10:5-11).

Of course, even now, not all in the Balkans want to be part of the European Union, some prefer to be in Russia’s upcoming Eurasian Union (though this is likely diminishing because of Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine).

That being said, those that become disillusioned/disappointed by the EU may ultimately back out of it. See also: Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future.

For the time being, the European horn continues to show interest in expanding to the south and east.

So, yes, Albania and North Macedonia are expected to become part of it.

Full article with related written articles/videos: ‘EU launches membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia’

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