Albania’s Foreign Minister Elisa Spiropali will travel to North Macedonia for a two-day official visit on Dec. 22–23, in a trip that highlights Tirana’s support for Skopje’s European Union ambitions and renewed focus on regional infrastructure and security cooperation.
Spiropali is scheduled to meet North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi and Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski, according to the Albanian foreign ministry. She and Mucunski are due to hold a joint news conference on Monday.
The visit comes as Western Balkan countries seek to maintain momentum toward EU accession amid enlargement fatigue inside the bloc and heightened geopolitical competition in southeastern Europe. Albania has repeatedly positioned itself as a strong advocate of EU expansion in the region, arguing that integration remains a key stabilising force.
During the visit, Spiropali is expected to reiterate Albania’s backing for North Macedonia’s EU path, framing enlargement as a strategic tool for peace, stability and democratic resilience in the Balkans, the ministry said.
A central topic on the agenda is Corridor VIII, a long-delayed transport and energy route linking the Adriatic and Ionian seas with the Black Sea via Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Officials in the region increasingly describe the project as strategically important not only for trade, but also for energy diversification and security, particularly as Europe seeks to reduce reliance on Russian energy supplies.
Spiropali will also hold a working dinner with Deputy Prime Minister Arben Fetai, who is responsible for good governance and anti-corruption, and Acting Minister for European Integration Orhan Murtezani, underscoring the reform agenda tied to EU accession.
In Tetovo, the Albanian foreign minister is set to meet leaders of key ethnic Albanian political parties in North Macedonia, including Ali Ahmeti of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), Arben Taravari of the Alliance for Albanians, and senior figures from the ruling VLEN coalition. Ethnic Albanians make up roughly a quarter of North Macedonia’s population and play a pivotal role in its political stability.
Spiropali is also expected to stress the importance of the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement, which ended an armed conflict and laid the foundations for North Macedonia’s multiethnic governance model. Albanian officials often cite the agreement as essential to social cohesion and the country’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory.
The visit will conclude with meetings with lawmakers, local officials and representatives of Albanian cultural institutions in Skopje, followed by a discussion at the University of Tetovo.
Analysts say the trip reflects Albania’s broader strategy of projecting itself as a regional anchor for Euro-Atlantic integration at a time when the Western Balkans remain vulnerable to political fragmentation and external influence.