Skopje, 7 February 2024 (MIA) — Caretaker Parliament Speaker Jovan Mitreski received Wednesday German MP and Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of South-Eastern Europe chairman Josip Juratovic leading a delegation of the German Bundestag, according to an official press release.

Meeting participants included Secretary General Cvetanka Ivanova, German MPs Thomas Hacker and Stephan Brandner, and German Ambassador Petra Drexler.

Parliament Speaker Mitreski said bilateral relations were friendly and cooperative and Germany was one of the country's largest trading partners.

He expressed gratitude for the German support of North Macedonia's NATO membership and its path to the European Union, and especially for "the recently adopted Resolution in the Bundestag, which supports the European future of North Macedonia and gives special recognition to the Macedonian culture, identity and language." 

Member of German Parliament Thomas Hacker, being one of the initiators of the Resolution, said this was a rare case of the Bundestag singling out a country this way. He said it was proof of the strong German support for the European future of North Macedonia, the release says.

The German MPs also stressed the importance of parliamentary dialogue and national consensus on issues of strategic interest such as Euro-Atlantic integration. 

Mitreski voiced his expectation that North Macedonia would attain full membership in the EU by 2030. He said the country had faced challenges in the past but it also showed readiness for reforms and for meeting the NATO membership criteria as well as for opening negotiations with the EU.

Meeting participants exchanged opinions on the Berlin process, as well. Now in its 10th year, the process has raised the level of political cooperation while also raising MPs' awareness of advantages contained in signed agreements ahead of their ratification in national parliaments, the release adds.

Mitreski also spoke about the Parliament's duties related to the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. mr/