Skopje, 13 May 2025 (MIA) - Minister of European Affairs Orhan Murtezani met Tuesday in Brussels with Valentina Superti, Director for the Western Balkans at the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST), discussing the preparations for the opening of Cluster 1-Fundamentals within the EU accession negotiations, with a focus on meeting the benchmarks that serve as a requirement for the opening of the cluster, as defined in the Negotiating Framework.

Murtezani briefed Superti that the Government has already finalized the strategic documents - the Roadmap on the rule of law and the accompanying Action Plan for protection of rights of minorities and communities, and the Roadmap for public administration reform - thus meeting the conditions and opening the path towards the formal start of the negotiations through the opening of the first cluster, the Ministry of European Affairs said in a press release.

Murtezani said these documents have been drafted through close coordination with the European Commission and involvement of relevant stakeholders from institutions, civil society and experts, as well as their public presentations before competent authorities in the Parliament. The final version of the documents is aligned with the European Commission prior to their formal adoption by the Government.

Interlocutors also reviewed current activities related to the implementation of the Reform Agenda 2024-2027 and the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, including the process of evaluating the first request for payment of funds that was forwarded to the European Commission in mid-March.

Discussions tackled reforms to be completed by June, primarily in the fields of energy, digital transformation, business environment and rule of law.

Superti welcomed the Government's commitment in meeting its commitments and the proactive approach in building a functional institutional structure for management of the Euro-integration process, reads the press release.

Photo: Ministry of European Affairs