Germany will do everything in its power to start North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations during the German Presidency by the end of the year, said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday.
“There are intensive talks on holding the first intergovernmental conference during the German EU Presidency. We will continue to work with you as we have in recent days, because this is a declared goal of our Presidency. We have been waiting for the start of the formal talks since March and we want to hold the first intergovernmental conference by the end of the year,” said FM Maas in his remarks at the ceremony of presenting the Human Rights Award of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
He said EU’s credibility in the region depended on this.
“It will be focused on finding a solution to the issues in the coming days. We are serious in our intentions and want to realize these objectives. We are serious when saying that the Western Balkans belongs to the EU and we want to be successful in this regard. We will do everything in our power to support you on that path,” noted Maas.
