Skopje, 19 June 2023 (MIA) – Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi and a delegation composed of MPs Nikola Micevski, Sonja Mirakovska and Remzi Mehmedi, Met Monday with the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag), Andreas Norlén, within the frameworks of the Conference on Democracy in Europe held Monday in Stockholm. 

According to a press release from Parliament, at the meeting the two delegations spoke about the ongoing political processes in both countries; Sweden’s NATO accession process; North Macedonia’s Euro-integration process; the geopolitical context resulting from Russia’s unprovoked aggression on Ukraine, and the bilateral relations, especially the strengthened parliamentary cooperation through the cooperation programs between the two parliaments.

Norlén, according to the press release, thanking for the participation of Parliament’s delegation at the Conference, noted that this is an indicator that the Republic of North Macedonia is seriously committed to promoting and protecting democracy and the rule of law. He stressed that Sweden highly values the fact that the Macedonian Parliament was among the first parliaments to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership protocol.

“I am an opponent of the bilateralization of accession processes in international relations, because accession should be founded on the fulfilment of the membership criteria, and not a return to the past,” said Norlén regarding the country’s EU accession

Xhaferi touched upon ongoing events in Parliament and spoke about the constitutional amendments which need to be adopted.

“Currently we don’t have a consensus over the amendments to the Constitution, but we are making efforts on a daily basis to find a consensus with the opposition, because of the future generations, and not because of political status,” said Xhaferi.

Regarding the bilateral parliamentary cooperation, Xhaferi underscored the importance of the Program for Parliamentary Cooperation with the Swedish Parliament, which he said will continue in the future, and invited the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament to visit North Macedonia.

Photo: Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia