Sofia, 7 November 2022 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani is taking part in the meeting of foreign ministers of the member states of the Central European Initiative (CEI), hosted by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov, whose country is holding the CEI Presidency in 2022. According to MIA’s Sofia correspondent, in addition to Osmani, Serbian and Hungarian foreign ministers Ivica Dačić and Péter Szijjártó are also in attendance. In his remarks to the ministers and guests, Osmani said that at the moment it is most necessary to define additional concrete measures through which CEI member states and the organization can help Ukraine. “North Macedonia, in accordance with the possibilities, helped with humanitarian aid but also with considerable technical equipment. We should keep in mind that, fighting for their own freedom, Ukrainians bear the heaviest burden today in defense of international order and democratic principles. Not only as a principle of solidarity, but also in basic sense, we owe Ukraine all the support in dealing with aggression and in rebuilding the country,” Osmani said, adding that regional cooperation instruments have proven to be a solid tool for mitigating those effects. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov opening the meeting, greeted his colleagues and thanked them for participating in the meeting in Sofia. The broad implications of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine on the region and the opportunities for strengthening regional cooperation in support of Ukraine will be discussed during the meeting. Focus of discussion will be how the Central European Initiative region should deal with the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The meeting in Sofia is expected to end with the adoption of a joint declaration by the CEI foreign ministers. There will also be a symbolic handing over of the chairmanship by Minister Nikolay Milkov to the next rotating chair of the Initiative - the Republic of Moldova. Among the official guests of the event are the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) Mathias Cormann, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Lazar Comanescu, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge as well as representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative. Foreign ministers of Bulgaria and North Macedonia, Nikolay Milkov and Bujar Osmani, as well as other guests, will participate in the business forum that is being held within the framework of CEI.