Skopje, 6 March 2025 (MIA) — The friendship between Croatia and Macedonia is very strong and I feel it all around us. It is much longer than the 33 years of our diplomatic ties; we are connected by our shared history, respect and sincere affection — and another bridge of friendship is Croatia's Macedonian minority and the Croats in your homeland, Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said Thursday in Skopje during his speech at a ceremonial session in Parliament.

Jandroković spoke about the two countries' strong cooperation in the transport, food and chemical industries as well as in the energy and the ICT sectors. He noted that over 50,000 Macedonian tourists had visited Croatia in 2024 and that number was growing each year. Also, he said, there were many Macedonian citizens working in Croatia, which pointed to a positive economic exchange.

"We are also connected by economic cooperation and bilateral trade cooperation and exchange, which is growing and was over 320 million euros in 2023, and it was even higher in 2024," Jandroković said.

Pointing out that Croatia wanted to increase the cooperation between the two countries and launch new economic initiatives, he urged lawmakers "to make use of all possible forms of bilateral cooperation, especially between the members of our two parliaments as well as between our parliamentary experts."

In his speech, the Croatian parliament speaker voiced his hope that the countries' partnership as NATO allies would grow even stronger through the country's membership in the European Union.

Jandroković said it was important for Croatia that EU's decision to open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania had been made during Croatia's EU presidency in March 2020.

"We put in a lot of diplomatic efforts then to make it happen," he said.

"Unfortunately," he continued, "even after five years, your negotiations with the EU have not been formally opened yet. This is not right.

"We understand your citizens' impatience. The Republic of Croatia highly values ​​all your achievements and believes you deserve much greater progress. We will support you on your path to the EU," Jandroković said.

According to him, Croatia, too, had gone through a difficult process to become a member of the bloc. "Speaking from our own experience, we say that you need to persevere," he added, pointing out that Croatia's reforms to join the EU had paid off.

The Croatian parliament speaker also noted that the EU and NATO were facing global challenges in "today's uncertain times."

He said countries needed to "be cautious and prepared, focus on strategic planning, work on strengthening our defense capacities and have a timely and efficient response to all challenges."

"In these turbulent times, it is our duty to do everything to protect our citizens and our institutions need to be more resilient," Jandroković said. mr/