The European Union should begin accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania to finally fulfil its pledge to integrate the western Balkans, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said during the second day of a tour to the region.
Speaking in Skopje, Mr Scholz said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine made it important for Europe to stand together and he praised North Macedonia's support of sanctions on the Kremlin.
"It's very important to bring a new dynamic into this process," Mr Scholz said in a news conference with North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski.
"I will advocate that the next steps happen."
Supporters of the EU accession of Albania and the countries that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars of the 1990s say it will ease regional tensions, counter growing Russian and Chinese influence and raise living standards.
Four countries - Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania - already have candidate status, although the latter two have not started accession talks.
The overall process has stalled in recent years amid doubts about the wisdom of further EU enlargement.
Mr Kovacevski underscored the "many difficult reforms" North Macedonia had undertaken in order to join the 27-member bloc, including changing its name to comply with Greek objections.
The current main obstacle is a dispute with Bulgaria over history and language.
Mr Scholz, who has fashioned himself as a mediator during his western Balkans trip, travelled onto Sofia where he held talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.
There he encouraged Bulgaria to lift its veto on EU accession talks for North Macedonia, saying the bloc should avoid dashing the membership hopes of the western Balkans.
"I see chances for progress," Mr Scholz said in a news conference with Mr Petkov. "We will stay in close exchange in coming days."
Mr Petkov reiterated Bulgaria's stance that North Macedonia must meet three conditions related to historical-cultural disputes between the two countries, urging Brussels to guarantee they were met.
The sensitivity of the topic was clear this week when one of his four coalition partners quit, accusing him of being ready to lift Bulgaria's veto in disregard of national interests, among other allegations.
The chancellor has made the western Balkans' EU accession, in order to ease growing regional tensions and counter Russian and Chinese influence, a foreign policy priority.
He yesterday visited Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, where he urged the leaders to reach an agreement normalising relations.
