Athens, 25 October 2021 (MIA) – North Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi said his meeting last week with his Greek counterpart Konstantinos Tasoulas “is in the domain of a historic meeting” considering the fact that there had been no official communication between the countries’ assemblies in the past three decades “in terms of what is considered cooperation between the two parliaments.” “The President of Parliament has welcomed the way we cooperate and the way we make efforts to enhance the cooperation. We are prepared to get the entire support as we do in the context of the European Union. In this context too, the President has voiced preparedness to make efforts so as to contribute to the EU opening negotiations [with North Macedonia],” Speaker Xhaferi said speaking to MIA’s reporter in Athens during his visit to the Greek capital to attend the Conference of Presidents of Parliament of the Council of Europe member states. During the meeting, Xhaferi said he had invited Tasoulas to pay an official visit to North Macedonia. “Tasoulas said he was prepared depending on his engagements in Parliament. It will be of great importance for the President of the Hellenic Parliament to visit North Macedonia and to address the MPs in order to get the sense of what it means to establish relations according to the rules of diplomacy and correspondence between the institutions,” Xhaferi told MIA. North Macedonia – Greece parliamentary groups for friendship to be activated Following the Prespa Agreement, said the Speaker, North Macedonia’s Parliament had implemented the initial preconditions stemming from the Agreement and in fact, the second stage for implementation of the treaty in our country has begun. “As a result, direct cooperation between the institutions has been established, at governmental and at presidential level, and in all segments of cooperation with various intensity in communications. Initially, at parliamentary level and event through friendship groups have been set up in the two countries, unfortunately there had been no direct meetings,” Xhaferi said that there has been new chair of the friendship group in Greece and the pandemic as well has prevented direct meetings. The Greek Parliament Speaker also referred to the friendship group speaking to members of the media after his bilateral talks with Xhaferi saying ways had been analyzed of how the two assemblies could cooperate through the parliamentary friendship groups. The Greek Parliament established a North Macedonia – Greece friendship group in March 2020, consisting of 22 members with New Democracy MP Marietta Giannakou being the chairwoman. North Macedonia’s Parliament has also established one. Tasoulas’s positive position on ratification of three memoranda with North Macedonia Speaking to MIA in Athens, Speaker Xhaferi revealed that at the meeting with his counterpart Tasoulas he had raised the issue of ratification of the three cooperation memoranda signed by the two countries, which stem from the Prespa Agreement. “The President expressed positive position on the matter citing the procedures in the parliaments. In due time, we expect them to be completed before they start being implemented, even though segments of these documents are being implemented by the parties, but they have to be officialized in Parliament in order to get the credibility of an international act to be enforced. I’m confident it will happen,” explained Xhaferi. In September 2020, the three memoranda were adopted in Parliament. According to the procedures, the next step involves them being reviewed by the committee for national security and foreign affairs. After it is green lit by the committee, the documents will be ratified at a session in Parliament. The documents include the memorandum for accelerating North Macedonia’s EU integration process; the memorandum on setting up a coordination committee for economic cooperation, and technical agreement for overflight across the Skopje Flight Information Region (FIR). Last week, Speaker Xhaferi attended the Conference of Presidents of Parliament of the Council of Europe member states, held in Athens, where he delivered an address on the joint future of all European citizens. https://youtu.be/y4AD54z5XaU