Skopje, 5 June 2023 (MIA) - Chairpersons and members of the European affairs committees of the parliaments of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Kosovo held a meeting Monday within the working visit to Skopje by parliamentary delegations of the two neighbouring countries.

The chairpersons of the three working bodies chaired the meeting, including Arber Ademi from the Committee on European Affairs in the Parliament of North Macedonia, Jorida Tabaku, who heads the European Affairs Committee in the Albanian Parliament and Rrezarta Krasniqi, Chairperson of the Committee on European Integration in the Assembly of Kosovo.

Lawmakers from the three countries exchanged views on the European integration of the region, depending on the stages of that process in which a certain country is and the challenges it faces, on the need to implement European criteria, as well as on the necessity to strengthen regional cooperation and exchange of experiences on the path to the EU, the Parliament said in a press release.

During the discussion, there was also an initiative to turn such meetings into a tradition, with the aim of continuous coordination between the European Affairs Committees, also within the framework of the Berlin process, as well as in general for further strengthening of parliamentary cooperation, reads the press release.

Chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, Arber Ademi, said that our country's relations with Albania and Kosovo are characterized by deep friendship, without any open questions, mutual support, respect and open dialogue, which is also reflected in the inter-parliamentary cooperation, both at the bilateral and multilateral level.

Ademi emphasized that since country’s independence in 1991, our country has faced challenges on the way to full membership in the EU, but the most important thing is that the country has not changed its Euro-Atlantic orientation.

“But as you know, the negotiations on the clusters would start after the adoption of the constitutional amendments. Now, it is the most important task that the Parliament has to fulfil, and I sincerely hope that ruling majority and opposition lawmakers will not put it into question or hinder the country’s European future, Ademi said.

Jorida Tabaku, chairperson of the European Affairs Committee in the Albanian Parliament, stressed that North Macedonia faced many challenges and made concessions like no other in the Balkans in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration.

“However, today we are in a more favourable and optimistic position in terms of integration, despite the situations that North Macedonia is facing due to the relations with Bulgaria and Kosovo considering the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue,” Tabaku said.

Rrezarta Krasniqi, Chairperson of the Committee on European Integration in the Assembly of Kosovo, said “We are happy that the EU opened its doors to North Macedonia and Albania, while Kosovo applied for EU membership last year.”

Photo: Parliament