"It is very important for me, as the European Union, to keep our word towards Albania and Northern Macedonia. "That is why the accession negotiations should be opened as soon as possible," the German Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Deutsche Welle. Anna Lirman.

"We are doing our best to remove the last obstacles from the road. "I think we will make progress soon."

In the case of Skopje and Bulgaria's veto, she says:

"We are ready to support the processes that must take place, but it is primarily a bilateral process and I believe that one of the priorities of the new Bulgarian government is to move forward with its own reform agenda." "There is a great desire for history to be left to historians."

France, which recently took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, had previously strongly opposed enlargement to the Western Balkans. Asked if that was changing, the German secretary of state said:

"Yes. France has sent a clear signal with the program of the EU Council presidency, in which one of the central issues is the accession perspective of the Western Balkan countries. A conference on the Western Balkans will be held. Macron in his speech in Strasbourg once again mentioned the topic and clarified that there is that perspective of access. "From that point of view, the signals from Paris are very encouraging."

Lirman, 38, is from the Green Party, as is Foreign Minister Annalen Berbock. Its official title is "Minister of State for Europe and Climate" and accordingly it says that European and climate policy are inseparable.

"During the trip (in Skopje and Tirana) I said very clearly that we will make efforts to support the countries of the Western Balkans in the field of renewable energy, energy efficiency and nature protection.

"During the trip, I deliberately met not only with members of the government and the opposition, but also with civil society. "And that is certainly what we want to continue: cooperation with civil society, support for a free, independent press, because that makes democracies really alive."

In the conversation, Lirman also referred to the initiative "Open Balkans" which currently includes Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia.

"First of all, I understand that there is a great desire for cooperation in the region. "At the same time, initiatives that want to strengthen regional co-operation must be truly inclusive, which means involving countries like Kosovo."

Referring to the influence of other actors in the region, such as Russia"The answer is the European perspective:" It is central for us to make it clear that these countries are part of the European House and really belong there. "Even for geostrategic reasons."

"In Europe we talk a lot about European sovereignty. And if we want to be sovereign as Europeans, we must really achieve stability and cooperation in the Western Balkans, which is already in the European House, but not formally. "And that's why it's so important to me."