Greece could be North Macedonia’s best ally, its best friend, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told a news conference Thursday in Athens alongside Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, who is paying an official visit to the Greek capital.
After their meeting at the Foreign Ministry, Osmani and Dendias signed memorandums of understanding in the sphere of civil protection, diplomatic education, including a memorandum of understanding between Invest North Macedonia, the national agency for foreign investments, and Enterprise Greece, MIA’s Athens correspondent reports.
Speaking at a joint news conference, which was held with only a few journalists covering the event due to the pandemic, Osmani and Dendias said that the relations of the two countries had reported progress, noting that North Macedonia and Greece were already ‘strategic partners.’
They also mentioned the second intergovernmental session, which is due to take place in the coming period depending on the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Greek Minister, the signing of the documents marked a progress in bilateral ties and there was huge potentials for cooperation in many areas, including energy, economy and investments.
At the same time, Dendias expressed Greece’s strong support for the European perspective of North Macedonia and also of the region, saying it was key for the stability of the region.
“It is the European Union’s duty to maintain the enlargement policy,” he said adding: “We cannot allow to create a vacuum of instability in our region, which can easily be filled with other non-EU forces that support extremism.”
He spoke in-depth about the need and necessity of North Macedonia to fully and consistently implement the Prespa Agreement, noting that more progress was needed.
The two ministers also discussed developments involving the pandemic with Dendias saying that Greece had been making efforts to provide vaccines for North Macedonia as well and that PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis had been also very active in the process.
“It’s a real pleasure to start the year with a successful visit to Greece. We sincerely intent to cross the threshold of good neighborliness, being a correct political narrative, and to lay the foundations for a deep, long-term friendship between the two countries, which is the top achievement of politics and diplomacy,” FM Osmani told the news conference.
Greece’s principled support, as an immediate neighbor that is part of the EU, is key for North Macedonia to start negotiating the EU to join, without delay, according to him.
“We appreciate the support, which I believe it is one of the key factors for creating long term friendship. I’d like to also note the cooperation within NATO through the countries’ air policing agreement, which largely contributes to improving trust between the two countries at political and security level,” stated Osmani.
He welcomed the signing of the three documents in the field of business and economy. “I’ve always believed that the economy and business should be at the helm of our relations. It’s our duty through these memorandums, through political cooperation, to create conditions to further improve trade, exchanges in the field of tourism, investments, which is one of the most important and tangible benefits for the citizens,” the Minister said.
The two countries, he added, are faced with serious infrastructural and energy projects, including the construction of a gas supply interconnector, re-opening of the oil pipeline, participation in the construction of the liquid gas terminal in Alexandroupolis , railway and road connectivity, and the opening of new border crossings.
Earlier in the day, Minister Osmani met with the Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou for talks on the improvement of bilateral ties after the Prespa Agreement, current developments in the region and North Macedonia’s European perspective.
Osmani is also scheduled to meet with PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis as part of his day-long visit to Athens.
