Skopje, 26 February 2025 (MIA) - As part of an official visit of a parliamentary delegation to London, Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi met Wednesday with MP Tan Dhesi, Chair of the UK Parliament's Defence Committee, and members of the Committee.  

Participants in the meeting discussed bilateral cooperation between the Republic of North Macedonia and the United Kingdom in the area of defence and security, through ongoing projects on boosting the country's army and military capacities, the Parliament said in a press release.  

Talks also focused on the role of the two countries as NATO allies, through their contribution to collective and global security, as well as in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. 

"Chair of the Defence Committee, Tan Dhesi, expressed satisfaction with the meeting and briefed participants on the Committee's activities in light of the ongoing debate in the United Kingdom on increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP and achieving a target of 3% in the next ten years. Interlocutors discussed support for Ukraine, which must not stop, potential security challenges in the Western Balkans region if it remains unintegrated in the European Union, and the obstacles to the European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia caused by bilateral issues which are not correlated with the Copenhagen criteria. Participants in the meeting also tackled the impact of disinformation in politics as a threat to democracy and how to find ways to suppress fake news and content created by AI," reads the press release.  

Gashi conveyed the Parliament's readiness to maintain closer cooperation between parliaments in the area of defence, with exchange of experiences in the defence and security spheres, with the aim of enriching the overall relations between the two countries, the press release adds. 

Photo: Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia