Skopje, 1 July 2024 (MIA) - Orhan Murtezani holds Monday his first official meeting with EU Ambassador David Geer as Minister of European Affairs.

Murtezani hailed the first meeting with the EU Ambassador as positive, reaffirming the commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration.

“I assured the Ambassador that Macedonia remains committed to the Euro-Atlantic agenda, and this is confirmed by the Government’s Program. We pay close attention to the recommendations and suggestions from our strategic partners, and the rapid, concrete actions of the new Government in adopting the reform agenda are evidence of this,” Murtezani said.

He informed that at the first government constitutive session, the Government tasked all ministries to submit any potential comments and recommendations on the reform agenda by July 4.

"In the first constitutive session of the Government, the report prepared by the Ministry of European Affairs was approved, and all ministries were tasked with submitting any potential remarks and recommendations on the reform agenda by July 4. Once the reform agenda is approved by all 27 EU member states and ratified by the Parliament, North Macedonia will receive access to €750 million in pre-accession assistance,” Murtezani added.

He pointed out that the optimistic approach of Hungary’s EU Presidency creates all the necessary conditions for North Macedonia’s accession to the EU.

“I welcome the adoption of the Strategic Agenda 2024-2027 with a focus on enlargement, as it certainly brings EU enlargement back to the mainstream political agenda. Combined with the optimistic approach of the Hungarian EU Presidency, this creates all the necessary conditions for North Macedonia’s EU accession,” Murtezani said.

We expect that the work on the screening process and after the screening will continue. As you know, we have already received the first report formally, but the second report has only been received informally, he said.

He added that he informed EU Ambassador Geer of the country’s expectations to receive the results from the screening reports for the other clusters in the near future, as, he said, regardless of when the constitutional changes occur, the country has no time to waste.

"I informed Ambassador Geer that our expectations are to receive the results from the screening reports for the other clusters in the near future. Regardless of when the constitutional changes will occur, we have no time to waste or wait. The administration must work according to the recommendations from the screening reports. My initial assessment of the utilization of pre-accession assistance (IPA) indicates that coordination and the dynamics of the institutions need to be strengthened to increase the absorption capacity of the funds. Additionally, a major challenge will be to retain staff across the entire IPA structure,” Murtezani said.

Photo: SEA