Skopje, 26 April 2023 (MIA) - Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi met Wednesday with British Ambassador Matthew Lawson and David Riley, Deputy Head of Western Balkans Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with Slovak Ambassador Henrik Markuš, UN Resident Coordinator Rossana Dudziak, and British Embassy Programme Manager Irena Stevchevska also in attendance.

Speaker Xhaferi briefed interlocutors with the institution's activities and priorities, as well as its tasks and obligations within the screening process and the country's European agenda, the Parliament said in a press release.

On the other hand, the guests informed Xhaferi on the project of North Macedonia's National Development Strategy 2023-2043, which has been drafted over the past couple of years by UK AID and the Slovak Republic Ministry of Finance, and implemented through the UNDP and UN offices in the country. The concept is based on thematic workshops at which all political and societal stakeholders are called to provide their contribution in the Strategy's building.

The ambassadors presented the basic goals of the Strategy and the accompanying activities for its realization, while urging for support by the Parliament and its involvement in the activities through broadly supported proposals, opinions and projections that would be integrated in the document.

The Speaker gave his principled support to the Strategy and provided recommendations on the modalities and ways to implement it within the Parliament, through the involvement of political parties and the services.

Interlocutors also highlighted the excellent cooperation with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the projects of the Swiss government, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and others, which contribute to the strengthening of the Parliament's capacities and its proper representation of the citizens' interests, reads the press release.

Photo: Parliament