Skopje, 6 September 2021 (MIA) – Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi met Monday with a delegation of the Lithuanian Parliament led by Audronius Ažubalis, head of the delegation and deputy head of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Western Balkan Countries. Xhaferi expressed satisfaction with the realization of the visit despite travel restrictions due to health protocols, and extended gratitude for Lithuania’s continued support to North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic and European integrations, the Parliament said in a press release. “He stressed the strategic importance of our country’s NATO membership for the Balkan region, which significantly contributes to regional and international stability. The Speaker briefed the guests on the’Mini Schengen’, i.e. ‘Open Balkan’ initiative, which turns a new page in the relations of the three neighboring countries in the region – North Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia, in order to enable free movement of people, goods, labor and capital, although it is certainly not an alternative to the EU,” reads the press release. Ažubalis, the press release adds, pointed out that Lithuania fully supports North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic and European integration process, and sees the enlargement policy as one of the Union’s most successful policies. As regards Bulgaria’s blockade of North Macedonia’s European path, Ažubalis said our country must persevere on the European path and have strategic patience, citing similar issues Lithuania had with Poland. The Lithuanian MPs expressed interest in North Macedonia’s cooperation with neighboring countries, as well as the way of overcoming challenges with the neighbors. They offered support in terms of cooperation in the area of defense and the need to build military capacities in the country, according to the press release. “The interlocutors voiced hope for creating conditions to get a date for start of EU accession negotiations, because the process of European integration is an essential catalyst for reforms at home, adding that if it doesn’t happen during Slovenia’s EU Presidency, it will certainly happen during the next EU Presidency, i.e. the French Presidency of the European Union,” the press release reads.