Skopje, 21 October 2022 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani met with European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi at the sidelines of the Berlin Process meeting on Friday and welcomed the recently released European Commission Report on North Macedonia. The EC report recognizes the good reform progress of the country, especially in areas of the Fundamentals cluster and the chapter related to the foreign security and defense policy, primarily due to the country’s 100-percent alignment with the Union’s foreign policy positions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release. FM Osmani briefed Commissioner Varhelyi over the ongoing screening process within the EU accession negotiations and North Macedonia’s commitment to complete it by November 2023, while focusing on the domestic obligations up to the opening of the Fundamentals cluster. Osmani thanked the EC over its plan for management of the energy crisis for the Western Balkans, which is expected to address the urgent, short-term and mid-term needs of the region. In this context, Varhelyi announced a financial package for the region in the amount of EUR 1 billion, aimed to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis, reads the press release.