Osmani and Hoekstra praise three-decade long friendship, partnership
Skopje, 7 September 2022 (MIA) – Speaking at Wednesday’s joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani expressed satisfaction that the two countries maintain good intensity of political dialogue at a high level.
This is a reflection, Osmani stressed, of the friendship and partnership between our two countries that has been going on for the past three decades.
Noting that next year North Macedonia marks the 30th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Osmani stressed that the Netherlands is one of the biggest and most consistent supporters of North Macedonia’s democratic development, as well as Euro-Atlantic perspectives.
“The Netherlands is one of the biggest donors precisely focusing on the development of civil society democracy. We are grateful for that, and of course for the concrete and consistent support to our European integration path,” said Osmani.
According to him, talks during Wednesday’s meeting discussed about the start of EU negotiations, on July 19 with the holding of the first intergovernmental conference, and the start of the screening process.
“I explained the preparations North Macedonia is making for a week’s time when it will need to open the first cluster in the screening section and the challenges that await us on that road. And it was a pleasure to hear that the Netherlands is ready to continue and intensify support in preparing the country to meet the EU membership criteria,” Osmani said.
Osmani and Hoekstra also discussed bilateral cooperation, concurring it is excellent both politically and economically. The two also talked about increasing the trend of economic and trade exchange, as well as the number of tourists, noting that 35,000 Dutch tourists visit North Macedonia annually, a number that speaks for itself about the excellent relations between the two countries.
Talks also focused on regional challenges, as well as the overall geopolitical context imposed by the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the consequences thereof.
“I reiterated that North Macedonia continues its full alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy, and the unwavering support to Ukraine and its fight against this aggression,” FM Osmani pointed out.
He once again extended gratitude for the important visit, noting that it not only opens a new chapter in deepening bilateral relations, but encourages citizens and the whole society in the new challenges North Macedonia is facing with the opening of the accession negotiations.
The two Ministers also tackled the partnership in NATO, as well as North Macedonia’s 2023 OSCE Chairpersonship, on which Osmani noted the expectation for the country to make a contribution within the organization at this extremely difficult times, strong polarization and disrupted security architecture of Europe.
Minister Wopke Hoekstra, noting this was his first visit to the country, extended congratulations on Thursday’s Independence Day.
According to him, excellent dialogue and strong relations have been established between the two countries. He pointed out that he looks forward to celebrating the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations next year.
“Today, we and our teams reaffirmed our strong support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and the necessity to end Russian aggression. I would like to commend North Macedonia for standing together with NATO partners in support of Ukraine by showing and strengthening unity. In addition, North Macedonia also helped in the delivery of weapons,” Hoekstra said.
He mentioned the first intergovernmental conference between North Macedonia and the EU, noting it has marked the start of the accession negotiations.
“I know there were many difficult moments before for North Macedonia. However, I fully support all your commitments and efforts on the path to EU integration,” Hoekstra stressed.
He said Wednesday’s meeting with Minister Osmani has been pleasant and constructive, adding it won’t be their last meeting.
“I clearly want to say that I believe in a common European future for our two countries,” he said, adding that talks also focused on how North Macedonia plans to strengthen reforms, reform efforts, that it has already been working on it in the past years, as well as preparations for the implementation of future reforms.
Of course, said the Dutch diplomacy head, as always the path to EU accession takes time.
“We discussed in detail about this issue, we talked about how the Netherlands can help, we talked about transparency and the fight against corruption. I would like to underline on behalf of the Netherlands that we will continue to support and encourage all efforts of your country towards EU integration. We will also be happy to help North Macedonia in rounding up all efforts for finally joining the EU. I hope we will fully use all the potential for our cooperation both bilaterally and within NATO and in another context,” Minister Hoekstra told Wednesday’s joint press conference.
