Skopje, 27 October 2023 (MIA) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit North Macedonia on Monday. She will be welcomed by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski with the highest state honors, said the Government in a press release.

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.

“We consider each high-level visit of this stature as a good signal for our region. I want to mention that Berlin Process Summit was held last week in Tirana, where the President of the European Commission was also present. There, she announced that she would tour the Western Balkans. That tour starts right here, from Skopje, from North Macedonia, and I think that will be a good signal,” Marichikj said.

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 Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which is expected to be published by the end of this year.

“It is a plan that enables us to implement some EU policies in our countries even before membership. So it's kind of an integration before membership. It is a plan that should give more opportunities for our young people, for our business community and a plan that should give us more opportunities for institutions and citizens before joining the EU,” Marichikj said.

President von der Leyen’s Office announced that during her visit to Skopje, in addition to meeting Prime Minister Kovachevski, she will also meet with President Stevo Pendarovski.

The President of the European Commission will kick off her tour of the Western Balkans in North Macedonia, as part of which she will also visit Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Photo: MIA Archive