This afternoon, the European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi met with the Macedonian Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi. In a press release issued by Xhaferi’s office, it is said that he expressed hope Macedonia will open its EU accession talks in March or May this year.

Despite the grave disappointment at the October European Council, our political factors mustered strength and remained focus on the strategic goal of the country to achieve full membership in the European Union. The reason the date was not give lies in the unresolved internal issues of the European Union, Xhaferi told Varhelyi, according to the press release, and promised to work toward transparent, fair and democratic elections in April.

Commissioner Varhelyi is quoted as telling Xhaferi that he decided to have his first visit to Macedonia precisely because of the work this country did to open EU accession talks, and that he hopes this will be achieved in March, both for Macedonia and for Albania.

The new enlargement methodology will be presented at the end of January and it will include three pillars – a methodology for the whole enlargement process, the opening of accession talks with two countries and a new economic plan for the region, Varhelyi told Xhaferi, and also reportedly referred to the October decision as a mistake.