Skopje, 5 February 2024 (MIA) — Caretaker Prime Minister Talat Xhaferi received Monday European Union member states' ambassadors who expressed support for the country's commitment to holding fair and democratic presidential and parliamentary elections, according to an official press release.

At the caretaker PM Xhaferi's first meeting with the ambassadors, they exchanged opinions on the continuation of the government's reform agenda, the next steps related to the elections, the process of constitutional change and the government's economic policies.

Xhaferi spoke about official plans to ensure the continuity of the government's policies and about organizational activities ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections, the release says.

He stressed that the caretaker government was determined to meet its legal obligation to conduct fair and democratic elections in line with the highest European standards and practices.

In addition to the government and state institutions, according to Xhaferi, all political entities in the country needed "to show maturity and responsibility as behooves a NATO member state, which has opened its negotiations with the EU, and which is the driving force of the region's Euro-Atlantic orientation," he is quoted as saying in the release.

He pledged to personally advocate for an atmosphere of constructiveness, the release adds.

"It is important that in the May 8 elections and after, within the set legal deadlines, the country elect its new president and form its new government, with full legitimacy, so there are no delays on the course we have set," Xhaferi told the ambassadors.

He also said the caretaker government was focused on the country's European integration and had an unequivocal pro-European orientation, maintaining its Euro-Atlantic policies both at home and abroad.

He said he would give his full support to Parliament, when the required conditions were met, to vote on the proposed constitutional amendments since they were, he recalled, the only condition to be met in order to open the second intergovernmental conference with the EU and formally start the negotiation process.

The ambassadors voiced their strong support for the caretaker government's commitment to holding fair and democratic elections and to maintaining domestic and foreign policies and cooperation according to the state's European agenda, the release says. mr/