News
3/27/2019 16:23
Deputy Prime Minister in
charge of European Affairs Bujar Osmani had a meeting with a delegation from
the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative led by the Secretary General, Ambassador
Giovanni Castellaneta, with the topics on the challenges and perspectives from
the membership of the Republic of North Macedonia in the Adriatic-Ionian
Initiative, the Strategy of EU for the Adriatic-Ionian region, as well as the
European integration process of our country.
"Having full membership
in the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative since May last year, the Republic of Northern
Macedonia has been given the opportunity, together with the other member
states, to contribute to the building of solid foundations for the European
integration process through active contribution to the priority areas within this
initiative, such as transport, tourism, culture and the environment ",
stressed Osmani, adding that he expects the cooperation in the regional
initiative to result soon with the involvement of the Republic of North
Macedonia in the Adriatic-Ionian Strategy of the European Union, thus including
the country completely in the regional flows.
"The Republic of North
Macedonia, in spite of its outstanding success in addressing of the open
political issues, did not at any time allow a reduction of the intensity of the
reform agenda, showing a high level of maturity and readiness for negotiations
with the EU," Osmani stressed, thus pointing to the concrete progress in
key reform areas - the judiciary, security and intelligence services, public
administration reform and the fight against organised crime and corruption.
During the meeting, the
interlocutors expressed hope that the cooperation within the Adriatic-Ionian
region, in addition to the economic development, will enable faster integration
of the countries of the Western Balkans into the EU, fulfilling the
corresponding criteria for interconnection, exchange and cooperation.