Skopje, 29 October 2023 (MIA) - The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is to arrive in Skopje on Sunday at the start of her tour to the Western Balkans.

As part of a four-day tour, she will also visit Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

President von der Leyen will meet the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski on Sunday in Skopje, while the next morning, on Monday, the President will meet with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovachevski, the EU Delegation said in a press release.

Following the press conference of President von der Leyen and PM Kovachevski that will be held in the government building on Monday, the President and the Prime Minister will visit a factory nearby Skopje for processing fruits and vegetables. The factory has received significant assistance from the EU-funded IPARD programme which enabled it to improve its production capacities, export its products to the EU’s single market and secure the jobs of its employees, reads the press release.

Later in the day, the President will travel to Prishtina, to be followed by visit to Podgorica, Belgrade and Sarajevo. This will be the occasion to discuss bilateral cooperation, and notably to present in more detail to regional leaders the EU's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

At the end of his working visit to Brussels, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs Bojan Marichikj told MIA that von der Leyen is visiting Skopje in order to discuss the necessary reforms and additional funds the country should receive as aid from the EU and motivation for the reforms, as well as the obligations it needs to fulfil to complete this phase of accession and move to the second stage, i.e., opening the negotiations cluster and ending the screening process.

According to him, she is expected to announce the EC progress reports on candidate countries, which is scheduled to be released on November 8, as well as to present the basic features of the EU’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which is expected to be published by the end of this year.

Photo: MIA archive