Skopje, 31 July 2022 (MIA) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is set to pay an official visit to the Republic of North Macedonia on Sunday, as part of his tour of the Western Balkans. PM Sánchez is scheduled to meet with counterpart Dimitar Kovachevski and President Stevo Pendarovski. The tour includes visits to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania from July 29 to August 1. The Spanish prime minister’s office said Sanchez would encourage all Balkan countries to implement the necessary reforms that would allow them to speed up their EU integration and convey a message that they can count on Madrid during the Spanish EU Presidency in the second half of 2023. PM Sánchez also intends to show that Spain attaches great importance to bilateral political, economic and cultural relations with the countries of the Western Balkans as well as support for the efforts they are undertaking to be part of the EU. Sánchez explicitly showed his support at the EU-Western Balkans leaders’ meeting held last month in Brussels ahead of the European Council meeting, where he advocated for opening EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania and granting Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status. sk/ik/