Skopje, 24 October 2023 (MIA) – As an EU candidate member, North Macedonia believes that the institutions of the European Union will maintain the enlargement perspective of the Union with all remaining member states as a credible and visible process, based on merit, considering the current geopolitical security challenges, said Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi in his address Tuesday at the second parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform in Prague.

In his speech, Xhaferi touched upon the importance of protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, he condemned the “holding of illegal elections by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories”, and stressed the need for “appropriate investigations into the human rights abuses, violation of international humanitarian law, and denial of civil and political rights by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.”

“Apart from unequivocally condemning the unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, it is necessary that we, the speakers of the democratically elected parliaments, also highlight the multidimensional impact of this war, and its humanitarian consequences. I am referring to the millions of internally displaced people and refugees, selective prosecution and torture, sexual violence, human trafficking risks, the abductions of Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians, and the forced transfer of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation,” said Xhaferi.

Xhaferi stressed he is convinced that North Macedonia is on the right side of history and that its support will be significant when it comes to “the liberation of Crimea and the protection of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Photo: Parliament of North Macedonia