In an interview with the Agence Europe, a Brussels-based news agency, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said he expected the first intergovernmental conference between North Macedonia and EU to take place in December, MIA reports.
“The first intergovernmental conference is of the utmost importance, and means operationalization of the political consensus reached in March between the 27 member states to the start of the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the EU (…). It should take place in December. In this way we can start preparing the conditions for the opening of the first cluster of chapters,” Osmani said in the interview given during his working visit to Brussels.
He explained that the country is concerned about attempts to bilateralise the negotiating framework by some EU countries.
“Our plan is not to get a quickest way to the EU, but to be fully prepared to fulfil the conditions. We concerned about the attempts to bilateralise the negotiating framework, the attempts to use the framework as a platform to impose a unilateral solution to bilateral problems for which there are alternative platforms, which are the agreements we have signed with our neighbours,” Osmani said.
Skopje and Sofia in the last three years have made progress in political and economic cooperation, as foreseen in the agreement with Bulgaria, but in regard to historical cooperation, progress is moving slowly, Osmani said when asked to explain the problem with Bulgaria.
“The joint commission of historians met nine times over the past 18 months. Due to the pandemic and early parliamentary elections the meetings were postponed, however now it is time the talks of joint commission to intensify. The joint commission is scheduled to meet on Oct. 15. I hope that the joint commission of historians is to find common ground on celebration of historical figures that connect our nations. It is our commitment and we will not run away from it,” Osmani said.
However, Osmani added, issues related to identity are unacceptable for North Macedonia.
“They derive from the modern right to self-determination and self-expression. We must resolve the differences in our relationships and find a way to move forward. We must think about the future, not the past, and to leave to historians the task of advancing in good faith and trusting a treaty of common history, outside of political obligations,” Osmani noted.
Thanking for the EU assistance during coronavirus pandemic, he said that EU’s COVID-19 assistance has taught Western Balkans what ‘being part of the family’ means, referring to the Economic and Investment Plan, which European Commission plans to present it in Oct.
“This investment plan is a continuation of the EU solidarity and partnership with the Western Balkans and we hope that it will be an important impetus to regional cooperation as well as for the region’s partnership with the EU,” Osmani said in an interview with the Agence Europe.
