Regional connections cannot replace EU membership for the countries of the Western Balkans, MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk and European Parliament's Permanent Rapporteur on North Macedonia, has told BNR. The meeting of the European leaders with the statesmen from the Western Balkans in Slovenia should confirm the inevitable path of these countries to the EU, Kyuchyuk said.

Sofia-Skopje relations are at their lowest point, which is "unacceptable for such close neighbors who have had a historical past and want to have a historical future." The conversation between the two countries goes through the restoration of trust and the approval of the Treaty of friendship and cooperation from 2017, the MEP added.