Skopje, 9 September 2022 (MIA) - It was with great pleasure that we followed the information in July that EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia will finally start. The delay, unfortunately, was not reasonable, but the decision to start the negotiations still rewards the effort that the EU made towards North Macedonia, said Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who is paying official visit to the country. During Friday’s joint press conference with President Stevo Pendarovski, Mattarella said that it was a confirmation of the commitment of North Macedonia and of all the countries that, as he said, decisively supported it, as Italy did. “I want to publicly underline that we appreciate the patience and effort that North Macedonia has made to overcome all difficulties and in the plan of better and more positive relations with its neighbours. We are talking about steps forward that Italy has always followed and supported in its relations with Sofia. The Union is our common future and without the accession of the Western Balkan countries into the EU, the Union will not be complete and this accession is needed for completion in order to truly integrate the whole continent,” Mattarella said. He underlined that Italy will always be on the side of North Macedonia on the path it should take, on the path of reforms to achieve alignment with the EU acquis, adding “We hope that this process will be shorter in order to gain full EU membership.” Pendarovski thanked Italy for supporting the EU's enlargement policy and the undeniable support for us in that context. “Bearing in mind that in the coming period hard work awaits us in the coming period and investment of all national capacities, the experiences that Italy is ready to share with us will be really useful. During the talks, I emphasized that North Macedonia remains a credible partner of the EU in dealing with current geopolitical and security challenges, which is also evidenced by the fact of our 100% compliance with the Union's common European security and defence policy,” Pendarovski said at the press conference. Pendarovski said that with Italian President Mattarella as NATO allies they exchanged opinions and information about the war in Ukraine and reaffirmed the call for an immediate stop to Russian aggression against a sovereign state. Pendarovski told that he requested support from Mattarella in dealing with the energy crisis, that is, to be granted access to the mechanisms and instruments of the Union for mitigating the negative effect of the energy crisis on our countries. Mattarella said that the energy problems are the result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and stressed that great solidarity is needed. “It is necessary to determine mechanisms that will help the countries of the Western Balkans to have concrete and efficient prospects for dealing with the energy crisis. So, it should be practical, not just theoretical,” Mattarella said. At the meeting, the two presidents stated that the economic, parliamentary and sectoral cooperation between North Macedonia and Italy is developing in an upward direction and expressed their willingness to further deepen it. “We have a real economic partnership, the exchange that our countries have is positive, it has exceeded the level we had before the pandemic. We want our companies to work in new area as renewable energy, so Italy wants to Italy wants to deepen this commercial-economic relationship with North Macedonia. We also have cultural ties, which are an important aspect of our relations and we hope to further strengthen them with the 2022-2025 cooperation programme in education, culture and science,” Italian President added. Pendarovski and Mattarella said that they also discussed current issues related to the situation in the Western Balkans region, security issues and the modalities for dealing with the economic and energy crises. “This was a significant meeting, as befits two friendly countries. Let this be an occasion for a joint celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries next year, which will be another opportunity to strengthen the Macedonian-Italian friendship,” Pendarovski said.