Skopje, 1 June 2023 (MIA) – At a roundtable discussion on energy at the second Summit of the European Political Community in Chisinau, I had the opportunity to convey our experience, positive practice and concrete steps that we have taken as a Government in the past year, which aided us in our efforts to diversify and successfully tackle the energy crisis, and which have positioned us as leaders in energy transformation, wrote Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in a Facebook post Thursday. 

“We managed to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and in a short span of 15 months in North Macedonia we installed capacities of around 200 MW of energy from renewable sources, mainly photovoltaic power stations, but also wind and biogas capacities. We are committed to energy diversification, North Macedonia is becoming a regional green energy hub,” wrote Kovachevski on Facebook.

In a press release, the Government said at the discussion Kovachevski spoke about the good practices implemented by the Government in the past year, such as the measures for dealing with the energy crisis, but also the steps leading to the country’s energy diversification. One such step, said the Government, is the Agreement on the interconnector with Bulgaria, which would increase the capacity of the gas pipeline. 

The roundtable discussion focused on the challenges related to the energy crisis and energy resilience faced by the countries in Europe, the heads of state at the discussion also touched upon energy security. The discussion highlighted the need of active inclusion of the Western Balkan countries in the energy network. The leaders also spoke about the possibility of creating a new mechanism for financing countries that are not EU member states.

Three roundtable discussions were held at the Summit, focused on three main topics – joint efforts for peace and security, energy resilience and climate action, and interconnections in Europe for a better connected and stable continent. The European Political Community is a platform for political coordination between European countries across the continent. The platform aims to foster political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest and strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent.

Photo: Dimitar Kovachevski's Facebook profile