Skopje, 5 April 2023 (MIA) – Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi met Wednesday with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, who is on an official visit to North Macedonia.

“Welcoming Plenković as a representative of a friendly country with which we have no open disputes, Speaker Xhaferi expressed his gratitude for the continued and firm support provided by Croatia for North Macedonia’s European perspective,” said Parliament in a press release.

According to the press release, Xhaferi informed the Croatian PM about the country’s EU accession process and North Macedonia’s task to include the other ethnic communities within the Constitution in order to begin negotiations. Xhaferi stressed that the process is not easy and, even though the decisions are in the interest of the citizens, a dilemma is present in the public on whether this is the last condition.

Additionally, at the meeting Speaker Xhaferi spoke about the country’s participation in regional initiatives, such as the Berlin Process and the Open Balkan initiative, and touched upon the upcoming South-East European Cooperation Process and the activities that will be organized in Parliament.

According to Parliament, at the meeting Xhaferi emphasized that North Macedonia has joined all condemnations, sanctions, and restrictive measures over the Russian aggression of Ukraine and has fully aligned its foreign and security policy with that of the EU.

In that context, Xhaferi also spoke about the establishment of the interparty parliamentary group for the support of the Crimea Platform in the Macedonian Parliament.

At the meeting, Croatian PM Andrej Plenković, expressed his gratitude for the reception in Parliament and the opportunity to address the MPs. Plenković underscored the friendly and cordial relations between the two countries, adding that the two countries are partners in NATO and neighbors in a broader sense.

The Croatian PM noted that North Macedonia signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU before Croatia, and as a representative of a country that has walked the EU accession path, sent a message urging for efforts to be made to reach a political agreement so that the country can progress on the EU path without losing more time. The model, said Plenković, is for the country to find.

Croatian PM Plenković offered cordial support for the country’s efforts to reach its goal and become an EU member by 2030.