Skopje, 26 April 2022 (MIA) – I’m extremely disappointed that we are still discussing the opening of negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. We thought we’d sorted it out two years ago, but now it’s back on the table, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said Tuesday taking part in the EU meets Balkans Forum in Sofia. The EU, he stressed, neither has the time nor the interest to keep postponing the first intergovernmental conferences with Skopje and Sofia. “All member states should understand the transformative power of the accession process. This is the message I carry again to Sofia, I was here three weeks ago. I will keep coming as frequently as possible in order for this issue to get off the ground in June because the Ukraine war has shown us we have no time to lose or any interest to delay the process,” the Commissioner stressed. According to Varhelyi, the war in Ukraine and lessons from the past has shown that the process of full integration of the Western Balkans into the bloc should be accelerated. He urged the EU to put enlargement with the Western Balkans in its top five political priorities since full integration of the region into the EU will contribute the most to stability and prosperity. After Sofia, Commissioner Varhelyi will travel to Skopje on Wednesday as part of his regional tour, which also includes stops in Croatia, Albania and Bulgaria. North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani also addressed today’s panel, moderated by former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, saying EU decisions made in the coming weeks will be of key importance for the future of the Western Balkans and its EU perspective and warned that any further delay might have serious regional consequences.