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Thank you very much, Prime Minister Diar Christian, it's very good to be back in Skopje.

Thank you very much for the very warm welcome.

North Macedonia has shown time and again that it can take bold decisions about its future.

The Prespa Agreement was a moment of real political courage,

with two countries choosing to turn the page and write the next chapter of their history together. It opened the door to NATO membership. Today, North Macedonia is a valued ally.

Similarly, in the European Union, we are building our security together.

You were the first country in the region.

We signed a security and defense partnership with The European Peace Facility is at work to modernize your armed forces.

You are also part of the coalition of the willing.

When a friend and fellow European nation came under attack, North Macedonia stood up,

and your resolve to support Ukraine has been as strong as our Union's and we are very grateful for that.

Christian, this is the North Macedonia we know, a country that stands its grounds,

a country that belongs at the European table.

So my first message is indeed this clearly, you belong to us. With incredible hard work and dedication. The accession negotiations started in 2022.

The screening process was done in less than a year.

Now there is one key step you need to take so that you can move forward and open the fundamentals cluster. I know the sensitivities around it.

But I also want to be very clear. About what Europe stands for.

We welcome North Macedonia, with its identity and its language,

we believe that the Macedonian culture and language can only make our Union richer. Because our motto is diversity and unity. We take it very seriously. This leads me to my second point.

I want to talk about the results of our growth plan.

You all know the principles we bring European investment.

As you prepare to join the European Union, we open parts of our single market for your companies.

At the same time, you adopt the key reforms that are needed for your companies to be able to compete and to thrive in our single market.

This is how your economy can gradually converge with the single market of the European Union.

North Macedonia has made the growth plan a real success,

and this is also thanks to your personal engagement and commitment, and I really thank you for that. You have already received €140 million.

And with more payments in the coming weeks, and the progress is impressive.

Let me give you good examples for the benefit.

For example, you have joined SEPA,

the Single Euro Payment Area, that is for actions.

Transaction fees have already been reduced, fallen by more than 90%. We are together reducing the roaming charges.

Because it's a great way to bring people closer together if there are no roaming charges.

And North Macedonia is joining Europe's AI infrastructure.

This new AI factory antenna called I hope I pronounce it correctly,

Vasila more or less this will give your companies and your startups and researchers access to Europe's computing power so that they can train their model on this supercomputer and develop more products.

This is gradual integration at its best, and there are many more examples to show that, and it is at the heart of our vision for enlargement. This leads me to my 3rd message.

You are getting ready, so are we, because enlargement, of course, is a two-way process. Candidate countries must be ready to join.

But we as a European Union must also be ready to welcome them.

This is why we will present our so called pre enlargement policy reviews next week, complicated name for something which is we look at our institutions,

we look at our policies, we look at our budget, what has to be improved,

what has to change to welcome candidate countries to the European Union.

We want to make sure that our European Union is ready to become larger,

and we will set out how to better protect what lies at the heart of Europe, which is our democratic values and the rule of law.

Christian,

this morning we discussed intensively all the different elements of the economic situation of North Macedonia. This is outstanding.

I will not go into detail because it's your turf, but you can seize this unprecedented momentum in the region.

Of course, Europe will be by your side because we want to bring the people of North Macedonia into the European Union. This is our determination.

Thank you for the excellent cooperation and thank you for your attention.