During her visit to North Macedonia and Albania, where she met Prime Ministers Dimitar Kovačevski and Edi Rama, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, reiterated the S&Ds strong commitment to the enlargement process. She also expressed her support, not only to their achievements regarding EU accession, but also to the measures put in place to protect the most vulnerable from the economic and social consequences of the war against Ukraine.

From Tirana, and after addressing the Socialist Group in the Albanian Parliament, García announced that the S&Ds will host a meeting between the government leaders of the six Western Balkans countries and S&D MEPS in Vienna on 8 December.

Iratxe García said:

“Despite the many crises that we currently face - Russia’s war of aggression, the energy crisis and the effects of the pandemic - the Western Balkans are and remain a key priority of our political family.

“There can be no successful EU external action, no geopolitical Union, without a successful enlargement policy. This is why the EU Tirana Summit on December 6th will be crucial, and we as a progressive family want to take stock of its outcome and prepare a progressive roadmap to support candidate countries on their path to accession.

“The progress reports published by the European Commission last month contain two success stories: Albania and North Macedonia. Both led by governments of our political family. This is proof that the social democratic approach not only works, but is able to deliver on its promises.”