Recent statements from France and Germany indicates that the European integration is shifting focus toward the east, to Ukraine, as well as to Serbia, and older candidates like Macedonia are dropping out of view.

Ukraine’s request for urgent EU membership was received with a very warm welcome in Brussels, even though it’s clear that the obstacles remain huge. And French President Emmanuel Macron recently told Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that his country will be the first to join in the future. No mention is made of Macedonia which has been a candidate for far longer than Serbia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that enlargement focus will remain on the Balkans, but did not name any countries.
Meanwhile, Moldova, Georgia as well as Bosnia are trying to receive candidate status as well.

Macedonia is candidate since 2005, but still hasn’t been allowed to open its accession talks, because of the Greek, then French and now the Bulgarian blockade.