Skopje, 8 July 2025 (MIA) – Minister of European Affairs Orhan Murtezani has ended his two days of Paris meetings aimed at deepening cooperation with France and promoting EU enlargenment, an official press release said Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of European Affairs, Murtezani visited Tuesday the Jacques Delors Institute and met with Benjamin Couteau, a research fellow specializing in the European Union enlargement policy; René Troccaz, Minister Delegate for EU Affairs at France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs; and Marguerite Costa de Beauregard, Head of the Western Balkans Department at France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

They talked about the EU's enlargement policy and its credibility as well as the need of stronger support for the Western Balkans region's reforms, the release said.

Murtezani also met with Liliana Tanguy, a member of the French parliament and its friendship group with North Macedonia. They discussed the importance of stronger parliamentary support for the country's EU integration, the release said.

At his meetings with the French international technical cooperation agency Expertise France chief executive officer Jérémie Pellet and the French Development Agency's head of the Europe department Cyrille Bellier, Murtezani spoke about promoting cooperation through financial instruments and grants in line with the intergovernmental agreement from 2021.

Meeting participants highlighted the importance of institutional capacity-building and human resource development programs for public administration staff so they could better implement EU standards and rules.

The Europe minister's visit to Paris began Monday with a meeting with French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad. He also met with Secretary General of France's Secretariat for European Affairs Emmanuel Puisais-Jauvin. mr/