Today in Paris, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Bujar Osmani, met with the Minister for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, Nathalie Loiseau, where they discussed the Euro-Atlantic integration of Macedonia, as well as bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Osmani informed Loiseau about the implementation of the “3-6-9” plan and pointed out that the implementation of the first part, part 3 is at the very end, that is, only 20% of the measures remains to be implemented and that they’re already working on it. He said that the first round of local elections and according to OSCE-ODIHR assessments, passed peacefully and with fair conditions and competitiveness, and he expressed hope that this will continue in the second round.
The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the current support from France for the country’s EU and NATO integration, as well as the positive role of the country in the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans.
“In line with the successful implementation of responsibilities by the Republic of Macedonia, I expect concrete steps from the European Union, as well as from the member states of the Union, which would be aimed at strengthening the European perspectives for the Republic of Macedonia and visibility in the progress towards the EU and NATO”, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Osmani reiterated the Government’s ambitions that by the end of the year at the December Summit, to remove the conditionality of the recommendation, a positive report and a clean recommendation from the Commission in April, next year, as well as getting a start date for negotiations towards the end of next year. Osmani also asked France for concrete support in this process, as a supporter of the EU’s enlargement policy, pointing out that he expects to use his role in the Union’s decision-making process to further accelerate the unblocking of the process.
