Osmani: We will prove to Europe that good neighbours indeed exist in the Balkans

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, met today with the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Gent Cakaj, who is paying an official visit to our country. Minister Osmani voiced his satisfaction with the intensive and fruitful bilateral cooperation that North Macedonia has heretofore been enjoying with its neighbour and friend Albania - now a NATO ally, as well as a close partner of North Macedonia in its EU integration efforts, while further underlining that North Macedonia remains prepared to expand its overall relations with Albania in all areas of mutual interest. - Late last night I landed from Athens, where I had a meeting with my Hellenic counterpart Dendias, whereas today my colleague Cakaj from Albania is already coming to pay a bilateral visit to North Macedonia. It is good to see that good neighbourly relations remain a priority of the foreign policies of the countries in the region, with it being the most important drive for the integration of the entire Balkans into European institutions," Osmani said. Minister Osmani took the opportunity to hail the engagement of Albania as the incumbent OSCE Chair-in-Office, with it coming at a time when Europe is dealing with serious threats to its security and their consequences to democratic processes. Congratulating Minister Osmani on his appointment and wishing him success in his new responsible duties, Minister Cakaj stressed the readiness of Albania to further enhance its overall cooperation with North Macedonia, as well as intensify the bilateral cooperation that the Foreign Ministries of the two friendly countries have been enjoying to date. The discussion that Mr. Osmani and Mr. Cakaj had were focused on the priorities of the two countries of achieving their common strategic goal of EU membership and, in that context, their efforts to formally start accession negotiations with the Union by the end of this year. In addition, Mr. Osmani and Mr. Cakaj exchanged their views on regional cooperation, deeming it to be vital for the European perspective of the region. In that respect, they both hailed the signing of the Agreement on Normalization of Economic Relations between Belgrade and Prishtina, describing it as an important step towards normalization of the relations between the two sides as well as toward increasing the stability of the region and the intensification of economic cooperation within it, all to the benefit of the citizens of all region countries. Other issues discussed at the meeting were also the on-going health challenges and epidemiological situation in both countries and globally, the measures and activities that the two countries have been taking to combat COVID-19, with both Mr. Osmani and Mr. Cakaj hailing the cooperation and mutual assistance that the two countries have been enjoying in battling the crisis.