Tuesday, 26 January 2021
MEETING OF PRESIDENT XHAFERI WITH H.E. DIRK JAN KOP
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands, H.E. Dirk Jan Kop.
The President expressed gratitude for the Dutch support of the EU enlargement policy, and for the strong support of the Republic of North Macedonia in the process of implementation of reforms. He expressed sorrow that during the German Presidency with the European Union the differences with Bulgaria were not overcome, thus, the path to the first inter–governmental conference failed to open.
Underlining that the communication channels remain open and the dialogue between the two countries continues, Xhaferi expressed hope that in the upcoming period the differences will be overcome. He emphasized that the established majority following the elections in July, remains committed to the European Agenda and continues to intensively work on the realization of all activities for Europeanization of the country and its approximation to the Euro-Atlantic structures.
The Ambassador Jan Kop appreciated the country that in circumstances with technical government, state of emergency and pandemic, managed to hold fair and democratic elections and in a short time to establish a government. The fact that the Republic of North Macedonia got a green light for starting the negotiations in March 2020, according to Jan Kop, means that the issue of membership of the country in the EU is not a matter of whether, but a matter of when.
Both interlocutors exchanged opinions on the conduct of the legislative process in circumstances of the pandemic, and praised the good cooperation between the two countries in NATO and international parliamentary organizations, such as the PA CE, OSCE PA and IPU.