Skopje, 26 April 2024 (MIA) - North Macedonia and Moldova are bound together by common values and the commitment to a swifter accession to the European Union. Cooperation and sharing experiences and practices are of special importance on that path, said the Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Cristina Gerasimov, and North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Bojan Marichikj, at a joint press conference Friday in Skopje.

Deputy PM Marichikj noted that the joint goal of the two countries represents an additional motive to enhance their mutual partnership.

“Since Moldova is at a stage that we already went through, which is the screening process, I conveyed to the Deputy PM that North Macedonia will place all of its knowledge and experience at the disposal of our colleagues during the screening process. This is an expression of a European friendly solidarity, assistance and friendship as European values. Both countries are seriously aiming for membership by the next first enlargement of the EU, and that enlargement is gaining importance and pace due to the geostrategic and security aspects,” Marichikj underlined.

He added that sharing experiences from the EU path is of great importance.

Deputy PM Gerasimov said her visit represents the foundation for the beginning of a very productive dialogue and exchange of views and practices.

“I am glad that we had the opportunity today to kick off what I’m sure is going to be the fundamentals and basics of a very productive dialogue for Moldova and for the Republic of North Macedonia on European affairs as we move forward towards achieving our national objective which is integration and accession to the European Union. We share the same strategic goal to become full members of the EU and the same fundamental values – a strong commitment to freedom, a strong commitment to security, a strong commitment to democracy, the rule of law, and of course, to peace. This is because the EU is first and foremost a project of peace and prosperity for all European citizens. We stand with Ukraine as long as it takes as it continues to face Russia's brutal and unjustified war of aggression,” Gerasimov said.

The Moldovan Deputy PM said the country supports a merit-based enlargement process and stressed that she believes it is the destiny of the countries from the EU’s eastern neighborhood and the Western Balkans to become a part of the EU.

“Allow me to underscore here that the Republic of Moldova strongly supports a merit-based enlargement process. At the same time, it is my very firm belief that it is the destiny of democracies both in the eastern neighborhood of the EU, as well as in the Western Balkans, to one day become members of the European family, this is the only way to ensure that the aspirations of our citizens for a prosperous future can be achieved. It is our firm belief that we are stronger together, that we are very interested to continue exchanging views and best practices as accession talks progress,” Gerasimov said.

She assessed the discussion with Marichikj as productive.

“I assured my colleague, Deputy PM Marichikj, that we are keen to gain further insights into how your public administration, your society at large, has been managing the complex task of transposing the EU acquis, of implementing European standards and of course designing reforms that are meant to bring us closer to the standards of living in the EU. We are also very happy to share from our experience of how we have structured our internal coordination processes since the beginning of this year, in particular after the EU council took the decision to open accession talks with Moldova last December,” the Moldovan Deputy PM said.

Photo: MIA