Brussels, 5 December 2023 (MIA) – Portugal will continue supporting North Macedonia on its European path, Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter. 

"I met Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in Skopje, where I could witness North Macedonia's strong commitment to the EU accession process, in a challenging geopolitical context. I told him that Portugal will continue supporting North Macedonia on its European path," Costa posted after Monday's visit to Skopje.  

In a statement, António Costa's office said the visit to North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro during his trip to the Western Balkans was aimed at reinforcing Portugal's commitment to the EU enlargement process. 

"The visit to these three Western Balkan countries was aimed at conveying Portugal's support for their efforts to draw closer to the European Union, within the framework of the enlargement policy," reads the statement. 

In another X post, Costa said that in this first visit of a Portuguese Prime Minister to three Western Balkan countries, he has shared Portugal's support for the acceleration of the region's path towards the European Union, on the basis of own merits of each accession candidate.  

Lisbon's support for the accession of the three Western Balkan countries comes ahead of the EU-Western Balkans summit to be held in Brussels on December 13, at a time when the Union is much more focused on Ukraine's accession bid. 

The meeting between the EU and Western Balkan leaders will be held a day before the EU's December summit, at which EU leaders will discuss the enlargement process, including the opening of formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

Photo: X