Ohrid, 30 June 2022 (MIA) - Regional cooperation is the only way to overcome the energy and other crises, concluded some of the participants at the Macedonian Energy Forum (MEF) 2022 held on Thursday and Friday in Ohrid, organized by the ZIP Institute and the Government. Deputy PM for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi emphasized that one of the Government's main priorities in the coming period will be to complete all the initiated processes that will mean a socially just energy transition, which will bring energy security and diversification of the energy system. “All of Europe and beyond is in an energy crisis caused by various external factors. We are facing the creation of a medium- and long-term strategy for energy independence and gasification of our energy system. This moment should serve us not to create another dependency, but to create interdependence of all the countries of the region through regional cooperation not only in the energy sector, but also in other areas important for the country,” said Bytyqi. Bulgarian Minister of Energy Aleksandar Nikolov shares a similar view, saying interconnectivity is an important issue that everyone is affected by and that everyone should work on it together. “Whatever happens on the political front, we must act together and work towards those goals. The crisis that happened in Bulgaria is identical to the one in North Macedonia. The crisis in Ukraine has had such an effect on all of us, especially with energy and high gas prices, but all these problems should be solved and handled in an identical way. If we work together we can survive and that is the only way to act and deal with this situation," said Nikolov. He noted that a difficult winter lies ahead, one of the most difficult in recent decades. “The most optimistic estimate is that it will be one of the hardest winters in the last few decades. The problem is that the production of electricity comes from natural gas and that is exactly what gas prices affect,” added the Bulgarian Minister of Energy. Former Greek PM George Papandreou also believes that energy interdependence is the only solution to overcome the crisis. “The crisis originates from the terrible war, the invasion of Ukraine, which led to high prices not only of energy, but consequently also of food. This is another opportunity to deepen our cooperation not only in the Western Balkans, but in the entire Balkans in general. Let's work in the direction of transforming our economies into economies that will be greener, more democratic or more participatory. Let's work on that interdependence of the energy sector in relation to other sectors for a better future," emphasized Papandreou. According to him, cooperation between North Macedonia and Greece is a good example of what cooperation should look like for the wider Balkans, speaking about the process of interconnection, namely borrowing energy.