Brussels, 15 November 2021 (MIA) – EU High Representative Josep Borrell met Monday with Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and reiterated later in the day that the start of EU accession negotiations with Skopje and Tirana are crucial for the Union’s credibility, MIA reports from Brussels. The issue was also discussed at today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting chaired by Borrell. “We want to see the first intergovernmental conferences with both Albania and North Macedonia happening as soon as possible, hopefully during this Presidency, before the end of the year, because not doing so is negatively impacting the credibility of the Union in the entire region,” Borrell told the press conference after the meeting. Ministers also discussed on how to involve regional countries in the Foreign Affairs Council meetings, so they are informed first-hand with the EU policies, which they would then adopt. Alignment with the EU foreign policy is one of the membership criteria for candidate-states, with North Macedonia recording a 95-percent harmonization. Asked by MIA if he shared the opinion that a new war on the Balkans was a possibility, Borrell said “don’t call for bad weather”. “The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina is unstable and some leaders are using separatist and nationalism rhetoric. Bosnia-Herzegovina must remain united, that for us is a single country, and any attempt to divide it and create new state entities is going to be a source of problems and troubles, and this has to be avoided, so that we don’t reach the situation that you described. This has to be cut off right now,” Borrell told the press conference after the FAC. He added that a new round of Belgrade-Pristina talks could take place by the end of the year, since tensions there are also rather high.