The European Union is not preparing to decouple North Macedonia and Albania, which expect the first intergovernmental conference and start of accession negotiations, European Commission senior officials told Politico and Wall Street Journal, Deusche Welle reports.

This comes after Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi has said that the two countries would be split if Skopje and Sofia fail to reach a solution.

However, these statements have come across reactions in the Union, with Wall Street Journal’s Laurence Norman quoting senior officials saying the opposite.

“Well, this is interesting. Senior EU official is telling me Oliver Varhelyi comments here do not represent Commission view and are “off on a tangent.” Specifically, source says Commission supports speedy opening accession IGCs for both N Mac & Albania. “We are NOT preparing a split.” tweeted Norman.

Politico adds, “The push-back from within the Commission followed with no ado: The services are explicitly not preparing any split, said a senior official, suggesting the Hungarian commissioner might be all too well-connected at home, where former North Macedonia Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was granted what Hungary refers to as asylum after being sentenced to two years in jail for abuse of office.”