It is in the interest of the European Union to start negotiations with Macedonia and Albania immediately. After that, the process will be long and it will be just the beginning, former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in an interview with BTV, expressing hope that the Bulgarian veto on Macedonia will be lifted soon.

As MIA reports from Sofia, according to Mogherini, Macedonia and Albania have done everything required of them to be able to start EU accession negotiations.

This creates a big problem with confidence in the EU enlargement process. Since Skopje and Tirana were forced to make certain concessions to start negotiations, and have not yet begun, some candidate countries have asked why they should do so at all, Mogherini said.

She said she did not know how strong external pressure was on Bulgaria to lift the veto on Macedonia, but hoped it would work.

Mogherini commented on the actions of the new European Commission composition regarding the sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine and said that the actions of Brussels are adequate to the situation and expressed hope that they will affect the Russian economy.