Skopje, 11 September 2023 (MIA) - The timeframe for adopting the constitutional amendments should not be underestimated, Germany's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, told a meeting with Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi in Skopje on Monday.

Sarrazin welcomed the excellent cooperation with the German Bundestag and particularly the exchange of parliamentary security experiences, the Parliament said in a press release.  

"He offered help and support in promoting the European integration process, noting that the Federal Republic of Germany wishes the process of constitutional amendments be completed as soon as possible. Given the possibility of opening negotiations with Ukraine in December of this year, the risk of separating our country from the rest, without fulfilling the necessary European requirements, is inevitable. Therefore, it is important how the question of adopting the constitutional amendments will be formulated, but it is even more important not to underestimate the timeframe for their adoption. His view is that a lot of time has been wasted in the region, and the current dynamics in the EU to speed up the enlargement process must not be missed," reads the press release. 

Speaker Xhaferi expressed special gratitude for Sarrazin's personal engagement, as well as for Germany's continuous support in achieving the country's two strategic goals: the NATO membership and accession to full-fledged membership in the European Union.

Participants in the meeting highlighted the visible parliamentary cooperation with the German Bundestag over the past few years at all levels, including the IPS scholarship program and the project on independent parliamentary security, the press release adds. 

"Speaker Xhaferi also briefed interlocutors on the activities the country undertakes in relation to the obligations of NATO membership, the support to Ukraine, as well as the ongoing process towards amending the Constitution as the only prerequisite that needs to be completed to open the negotiation chapters," reads the press release. 

The interlocutors welcomed excellent cooperation at an economic level and with the diaspora in Germany, as a solid basis to further bring the two countries closer and enhance cooperation. 

German Ambassador to North Macedonia Petra Drexler and the North Macedonia's Parliament Secretary General Cvetanka Ivanova also attended the meeting. 

Sarrazin is also meeting Monday with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, and VMRO-DPMNE opposition party leader Hristijan Mickoski.

On Tuesday, the German envoy is set to meet with Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj and to also participate in a conference on improving the Berlin Process through parliamentary democracy.

Sarrazin, who participated in the Prespa Forum in June, said in an interview with MIA at the time that North Macedonia should not stall on its EU path.

"North Macedonia doesn’t have much time to lose, because we don’t know what will happen, considering the war in Ukraine. This is the moment that the European Union has asked you to step closer. If you now get to opening the clusters after the constitutional change, I think the path of the country toward the EU is irreversible.

"You have made a very important step. Everybody knows that your country will join. We don’t know how fast, but nobody will turn the country around any more. We see what is happening in your neighborhood and how dangerous it is, with violent outbreaks on the streets happening again suddenly after so many years, and what this means for the feelings of the people in this region," the German diplomat said in June.

Photo: Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia