SKOPJE – President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said today in Skopje that, unlike in the mandate of the previous Commission, there are now concrete discussions on how to make enlargement happen, which means that the window of opportunity is open.
Von der Leyen visited the capital of North Macedonia to kickstart her tour of the Western Balkan capitals, with one of her main goals being to present the new EU Growth Plan for the region.
During the press conference with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski, von der Leyen was asked whether the French-German Report for the Reform of the European Union had been reviewed by the European Commission and whether the year 2030 was achievable for the reform of the EU in order to accept new members.
“Things really changed for the better, because what we see now is a true momentum in the process for enlargement. We want the Western Balkans to join the EU, and for that, you need to get ready, and we need to get ready. And it is very good that now concrete discussions have started in the EU: what do we have to do to get ready, what are the questions that are open, and what are the answers that we have to give? This was not the case in the last mandate of the European Commission, so something substantial changed in this mandate, it is now concrete”, the President of the European Commission said.
She added that it is therefore her plea and encouragement also to move forward in the different countries of the Western Balkans because this is now the window of opportunity that is now opened.
“And, again, this process is not rigid. It is merits-based. So you do not need to wait for certain processes. You can be faster. So, the better the reform process is, the faster the possibility of accession. So, the window of opportunity is opened, let us seize this moment together”, she said.
During the press conference, von der Leyen presented the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans worth 6 billion Euros in grants and loans. Both von der Leyen and Prime Minister Kovačevski expressed hope that, by December, the country will be able to adopt the constitutional amendments and open the Cluster on Fundamentals.
Asked whether she would meet with the opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, whose cooperaiton is necessary for passing the constitutional changes, von der Leyen replied that she only meets with heads of state and government, which is a regular practice.