The Republic of North Macedonia must fulfil the conditions for continuing the path to the EU. Sofia is one of the best places to discuss the bloc's enlargement with the Western Balkans.
This was stated before BGNES by the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Várhelyi, during the "EU meets the Western Balkans" forum.
"We have completed the screening process with Albania and North Macedonia. We will continue the negotiations when the necessary conditions are met. We are expecting the opening of the first cluster with Tirana," stressed Várhelyi and added that the active work with the Republic of North Macedonia will end after the elections there.
Regarding the European integration of Serbia, Várhelyinoted some progress.
The commissioner recalled that the European elections are approaching this year. "Expansion will be a major theme in them this time, and it wasn't in the previous ones," he said.
"This is necessary because the geopolitics of the continent has changed. Partly because of the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and before that the COVID crisis," added Oliver Várhelyi.
The diplomat noted that the EU enlargement policy is a geostrategic investment in security and stability. "Enlargement must happen. We are working harder than ever. We must carry out the reforms together. We started the current mandate with 3 candidate countries, today we have 7," the enlargement commissioner added. /BGNES
