Skopje, 26 July 2022 (MIA) – Portugal is a country that from the very beginning has absolutely and unequivocally supported us on our European path. Many challenges lie ahead – a security, energy and economic crisis, but also every other crisis that we can now solve together with our EU partners. This is why it is important for North Macedonia to be firmly on the European path, said Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj, after meeting with Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs João Gomes Cravinho on Tuesday. Marichikj and Cravinho discussed the opening of North Macedonia’s EU membership accession talks, as well as the challenges which lay ahead for the country. According to a press release by the Secretariat for European Affairs, Marichikj and Cravinho agreed that a historic step forward for the country’s EU integration process was taken on July 19 with the first Intergovernmental Conference and the beginning of the screening process, which is of great importance to the EU and the region. “In the upcoming period we remain committed to maintaining a positive portfolio, which has been confirmed by the latest reports by the European Commission, but also by international rankings such as GRECO, Freedom House, Transparency International and others,” said Marichikj, adding that the level of alignment with the EU legislation is now at 45 percent. “We will direct our efforts to secure a smooth negotiation process in all its aspects, through a revision of the negotiation structure, finding a model for the inclusion of civil society in the process, we will greatly increase our capacities for the translation of EU legislation into Macedonian in the upcoming period – including a linguistic, expert and legal revision and verification of the translated EU acts, as well as the creation of mechanisms for a transparent and timely communication with the citizens,” said Marichikj. Marichikj and Cravinho talked about improving and deepening bilateral cooperation during the accession process, as well as sharing experiences and good practices by Portugal during the negotiations process. Portugal affirmed that it remains a strong supporter of North Macedonia's full-fledged EU membership. This is João Gomes Cravinho’s first official visit to the country, where he met with the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and President Stevo Pendarovski. ad/ba/