Serbia awaits the extradition of Tomor Morina and that North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev fulfills his promise he would respect the international law, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said, Blic daily reports.

He made these remarks responding to a journalist’s question if former KLA member, arrested in North Macedonia on international arrest warrant would be extradited to Serbia, and to comment on Zaev’s statement the international laws would be respected, as well as that Morina is Kosovo citizen.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic called on the European Union to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania as soon as possible since, as she said, that was crucially important for the Western Balkans, BETA news agency reported.

Brnabic underlined Serbia’s “full and unreserved” support of its neighbors’ European integration.

Political agreement in the Western Balkans should be rewarded, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn said on Monday and called on the bloc’s foreign ministers to start accession talks with North Macedonia, the FoNet news agency reported.

Hahn added the move would be an essential signal to the whole region.

The European Union countries consider a non-paper regarding the bloc's enlargement to include the Western Balkans as still a credible option, with 13 member states supporting the idea, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on Thursday.

RFE had insight into the document which, among other things, said that EU should confirm its explicit dedication to the Western Balkans integration and that there was no "a plan B" for the region.

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said North Macedonia recognized unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo in order to get closer to the West, adding the argumentation of newly elected Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski who said it was done because of Albanians living in the country “does not stand.”

Pope Francis arrived on Tuesday morning at the airport in Skopje, where he was traditionally greeted with bread and salt. The head of the Roman Catholic Church was greeted by the president and prime minister of North Macedonia, Djordje Ivanov and Zoran Zaev, and other representatives of the government and the city of Skopje.

Pope Francis will first go to the Presidential Palace where a reception is organized, and later on during his first visit to North Macedonia serve a mass at the central square in Skopje, an event that is expected to be attended by more than 15,000 people.

The Washington John Hopkins University’s panel “Western Balkans (WB): Managing the Challenges” dealt with the regional leaders’ real readiness to get closer to the West, adding it should more clearly criticise the WB’s regimes, the Voice of America (VOA) reported on Thursday, as carried by the FoNet news agency.

Donald Trump, the US President, told Zoran Zaev, North Macedonia's Prime Minister, that his deal with Greece on the country’s new name was the greatest achievement in the Balkans since the 1995 Dayton Agreement which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Beta news agency reported.