Skopje, 5 August 2021 (MIA) – All communities in North Macedonia benefited from the Ohrid Framework Agreement, but there’s a long road ahead for its full implementation, said panelists at Thursday’s roundtable on the importance of the agreement on smaller communities, organized by the Agency for Community Rights Realization and the Ministry of Political System and Inter-Community Relations. First Deputy PM and Minister of Political System and Inter-Community Relations Artan Grubi stressed that the normative portion of the agreement has been adopted by institutions, adding that it’s our task to ensure its continuous implementation. “We all benefited from the Ohrid Framework Agreement, but I want to reiterate the importance of mutual loyalty between state and citizens. People and communities are much more loyal to the country today, which means that the country has become more loyal to all of us, in line with Ohrid Framework Agreement provisions. However, sustainable development is impossible if certain groups are marginalized. Thanks to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, today we have municipalities where Roma, Turkish, Bosnian and Serbian are also official languages besides Macedonian and Albanian, which means that these communities have been integrated in all aspects of society, albeit still not fully,” Grubi said. The Ohrid Framework Agreement, he underlined, has provided new opportunities for all communities so that we can all participate equally in the country’s development, adding that peace deals are rarely such a success. Jeffrey Goldstein, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, told the event that there’s a need to improve implementation of legislation, strategies and action plans, especially those related to equal representation, language use, education and culture. “One of OSCE’s key priorities is helping the country create and implement policies, i.e. promote the rights of all communities through an institutional framework that will assist them in actively taking part in all aspects of public life. The OSCE Mission to Skopje will continue to support efforts aimed at promoting the rights of communities, in line with the national strategy for one society and interculturalism,” he said. Eran Kurtish, head of the Agency for Community Rights Realization, underlined that all communities have visibly benefited from the Ohrid Framework Agreement, adding that there’s a long road ahead. “The Ohrid Framework Agreement put an end to inter-ethnic tensions. It paved the way towards EU and NATO accession. Today, 20 years after it was signed, the country is a NATO member. All communities have visibly benefited from the Ohrid Framework Agreement, but we have a long road ahead. The aim of the Ohrid Framework Agreement wasn’t just to end the internal conflict, but to assist the promotion and integration of all communities in North Macedonia. In the upcoming period, greater focus should be put on its full implementation,” Kurtish stressed. Deputy PM Grubi also discussed on Thursday several events set to be held on August 13, the 20th anniversary of the  Ohrid Framework Agreement, including a conference at Hotel Alexander Palace and a concert at the Philharmonic.