Skopje, 3 June 2024 (MIA) — President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova received Monday French Ambassador Cyrille Baumgartner to exchange opinions on bilateral relations, according to an official press release. 

Meeting participants assessed relations as based on traditional friendship, open and constructive dialogue and cooperation in many spheres of mutual interest, the release said.

"The meeting discussed Macedonian aspirations for membership in the European Union as a strategic national priority," the release said, pointing out that President Siljanovska Davkova had highlighted to Ambassador Baumgartner the importance of the French and other EU member states' support for this.

"President Siljanovska Davkova voiced her expectation for the EU accession process to continue by restoring faith in the meritorious process of integration, placing a focus on fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria," the release said. 

"She expressed the hope that hundred-year-old historical issues would not cast a shadow over the reforms that are the country's priority. She also expressed her expectation for deeper cooperation with the French Fifth Republic toward applying the French experiences in the country's development of democracy," the release added.

Speaking about the rule of law as the first and most important Copenhagen criterion, she pointed to current challenges concerning violations of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, without which no parliamentary democracy can exist, the release said. mr/