Tuesday, 3 December 2019
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND H.E. NIVES TIGANJ, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA TO THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
Today, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi had a meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of North Macedonia, H.E. Nives Tiganj.
At the beginning of the meeting, President Xhaferi congratulated the Ambassador on her new post and wished for a fruitful and successful ambassadorial mandate, thus expressing expectation that the current constructive cooperation of the Republic of North Macedonia’s institutions with the Embassy of Croatia will continue. He pointed out that the Republic of Croatia is a proven friend of the Republic of North Macedonia and an unwavering supporter of its European and Euro-Atlantic integration, a fact that is highly appreciated and respected. He expressed confidence that this strong, friendly and unreserved support would be further strengthened during the forthcoming presidency of the Republic of Croatia with the Council of the European Union next year and would result in a date for opening negotiations at the Zagreb Summit in May.
President Xhaferi informed that, not making a decision on opening negotiations caused great disappointment among the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, but stressed that, we stay committed to the reform process. At the same time, as a state, we remain committed to the Berlin process as well, along with other countries in the Region, in order to show strong commitment to real results that will have long-term positive effects.
In the context of NATO, the country awaits the final ratification of the Accession Protocol to NATO by the Spanish Parliament, which is holding its constituent session today following the November repeat election.
He expressed his gratitude to the Croatian state and parliament, which together with the Montenegrin and Slovenian parliaments were the first to ratify the Accession Protocol, while their respective sessions were attended by our parliamentary delegation.
At the bilateral level it was underlined that the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia will continue to nurture friendly relations with the Assembly of the Republic of Croatia, in particular by intensifying the inter-parliamentary cooperation at the highest level, as well as at the level of parliamentary groups for cooperation with parliaments of other states. At the same time, in addition to strengthening and intensifying parliamentary cooperation, President Xhaferi stressed that the two countries should make greater efforts to boost economic cooperation, tourism and trade as important segments of social life.
Ambassador Tiganj conveyed the assurances of Croatia’s highest state leadership for further support of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the Republic of North Macedonia, expressing hope that during the forthcoming presidency of the Republic of Croatia with the Council of the EU the injustice done to the country would be corrected. She pointed out that the Republic of Croatia has 12 twinning projects with several state institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia, aimed at transferring Croatian experience and assisting in the accession process of the Republic of North Macedonia to the European Union. She assessed the compromise agreements with the Republic of Greece and the Republic of Bulgaria, with which the Republic of North Macedonia put an end to open issues, as special state-building decisions with far-reaching positive effects in the country's foreign policy.
The interlocutors exchanged views on the current political developments in the country ahead of the forthcoming early elections and the related activities of the Assembly and the Government, the good neighborly relations, the overall parliamentary work, the dialogue government - opposition as a key imperative of democracy, the possibilities of promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation and sharing mutual experiences in foreign policy and parliamentary diplomacy.