Skopje, 27 October 2023 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, as part of his visit to Finland, met with his counterpart, Minister Elina Valtonen and reaffirmed mutual commitments for the promotion of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, which this year mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

“In today's existing security architecture, we are aware of the various challenges we are facing, and we can only overcome them by working together, and the OSCE is an important segment in this direction,” Osmani noted in his capacity OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

Congratulating Finland on assuming the OSCE Chairpersonship in 2025, he stressed that the priority and common interest of all OSCE participating countries is to reach a consensus on the election of the chairmanship in 2024.

Osmani thanked for Finland’s consistent support to our EU accession process and underscored the need to change the approach according to the concept of “more integration before EU membership.”

Welcoming Finland's membership as the 31st NATO member, Osmani reiterated that we remain committed to maintaining strong partnership relations.

“By joining the alliance, Finland is contributing to stability and security on the European continent,” Osmani said.

Minister Valtonen reaffirmed Finland's support for the European integration process of our country and recognized that North Macedonia has achieved a high level of fulfilment of the European reform agenda.

“Finland has a long-standing strong interest in the Western Balkans and supports its partners from the Western Balkans in fulfilling their European integration aspirations. Enlargement is an important long-term policy of the Union and European integration is a high priority,” Valtonen noted.

During his stay in Helsinki, Osmani also met with the Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho and shared views on North Macedonia’s EU agenda, the country’s OSCE Chairpersonship with a view to functionality, as well as the promotion of parliamentary cooperation.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs