Skopje, 23 June 2022 (MIA) – Accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania should begin without delay – this is an absolute priority. Work is continuing on reaching a mutually acceptable solution for the outstanding bilateral issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia with a feeling of great urgency, said an EU senior official after the end of the EU-Western Balkans Summit on Thursday, MIA reports from Brussels. The EU official said today’s meeting of leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkans, which lasted for about four hours, discussed the current geostrategic situation and the ways to further strengthen relations between the EU and countries in the region. The meeting clearly and unequivocally reaffirmed the European perspective of the Western Balkans and the region’s future in the Union. “Because of the war in Ukraine, EU enlargement is high on the agenda of priorities,” said the official First of all, he said, this means enhancement of the accession process through continuation of reforms, especially those related to the rule of law, judiciary, and fight against corruption. “Second, the integration process should strengthen by offering concrete socio-economic benefits for the partners in the Western Balkans during the accession negotiations, so they gradually integrate in EU’s operations, because they have been implementing the EU law in every sector through the conclusion of the visa liberalization,” he said. Third, he added, it is urgent to have progress in bilateral and regional disputes, including normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations through the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, whereas the recent political agreement among Bosnia and Herzegovina leaders should help the country make progress on the EU path and the candidate status. “At the meeting, leaders from the Western Balkans also discussed the initiative over a European political community as a platform for exchange, as an addition, not an alternative to the enlargement process,” notes the EU official. The Union will continue to provide support to the region, including in the management of challenges that result from the war in Ukraine, for example by linking the EU initiatives for food and energy security, while providing support to the strengthening of cyber-security and coping with hybrid threats and disinformation. The EU Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans will ensure up to EUR 30 billion of investments in helping the region in the economic recovery and convergence with the Union, while supporting strategic projects that improve networking and resilience of the region, adding that the first set of 21 projects worth over EUR 3 billion has already been launched at the onset of 2022.