News
2/21/2019 13:31
Deputy Prime Minister for
European Affairs Bujar Osmani today in Vienna participated in a meeting of
Ministers in charge of European affairs from the Western Balkan countries,
under the auspices of the Federal Minister for European Affairs of Austria at
the Office of the Federal Chancellor, Gernot Blumel, which was dedicated to the
challenges facing the European Union in the creation of the European future.
"All of us, the candidate
countries for EU membership have an ambition, but also a common goal to become
a part of the EU because only stable, safe and prosperous Balkan is a guarantee
for stable, safe and prosperous Europe as a whole", stated Osmani at the
meeting, pointing out that the Western Balkan countries, not only
geographically, but also politically and culturally, have always been part of
Europe.
"In the region there is
a new reality called Republic of North Macedonia. It is a country that
unequivocally becomes the 30th member of the NATO Alliance, which has realistic
expectations to start accession negotiations with the European Union this year;
it is a country that grows into an example of an organised multicultural,
multi-ethnic and multilingual functional democracy," Osmani stressed,
pointing out that the country no longer has any open issues with its
neighbours, but that it has managed to close all major open issues inside, at
home.
"I hope that our
success story will be an incentive for the other countries of the region, and
here of course I mean Kosovo and Serbia, to expand their political horizons,
leaving more space for compromise, positive approach and diplomatic political
will to put an end to their dispute", stated Osmani, thus pointing to a
solution of the Prishtina- Belgrade dispute as thee most difficult one, the
most complex one, but at the moment as the most important priority in the
region.
Deputy Prime Minister Osmani
expressed special gratitude to the host Blumel firstly for holding the meeting,
creating an opportunity for all Ministers to jointly share their ideas, visions
and expectations regarding the development of the European Union in the future,
and in overall, thanks to Austria for the huge support to the Western Balkan
countries in the aspirations for EU membership, especially within their
presidency of the Union, putting the region's progress as one of the EU's most
important priorities.