Newly elected President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen and her team would work on accelerating political conditions to enable the beginning of the accession talks with Skopje and Tirana as soon as possible during her mandate, according to Dana Spinant, Von der Leyen spokesperson the Beta news agency reported.

Spinant added that Von der Leyen “said several times she would support the enlargement and negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.”

Von der Leyen said last week the European Union had to keep its promise and support talks with Skopje and Tirana. It was read as a message to some member states, and especially the French President Emmanuel Macron, who maintained that the bloc should first reform itself and the process of enlargement before negotiating the entry to the EU.

She reiterated the German view that the EU should keep open doors to the Western Balkans, “or the others will fill in the gap – like China, Russia, Turkey or Saudi Arabia.”

Von der Leyen also disagreed with Macron’s view that “NATO is in clinical death,” adding that “on the contrary, NATO proved itself as an extraordinary freedom shield.”