Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, commenting on the Action Plan, said that the goal of the Friendship Treaty with Bulgaria was to institutionalize the debate on the differences between the countries so as to protect the other processes from the debate on the differences.
“Neither the EU integration process, nor cooperation in other areas, including economic cooperation, infrastructure, etc. We believe we should return to the principle of the Treaty, which is why we believed there should be an action plan to allow cooperation to continue between the two countries while we’re negotiating,” Osmani said Monday at a news conference alongside his Slovak counterpart Ivan Korčok when answering a reporter’s question.
While we are negotiating to settle the differences with Bulgaria, he noted, the country’s EU integration process should be pursued simultaneously.
The Minister said he expected that the action plan would lay the foundation for the coming session of the intergovernmental commission, adding he hoped it would be organized as soon as possible.
Asked to comment on North Macedonia’s latest ranking in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Osmani said the country’s response should be comprehensive and energetic.
He said he supported all of the government’s steps and action plans to combat corruption. “Fight against corruption is part of the EU’s criteria and it’s no coincidence that we insist on the opening of negotiations because the process begins with Chapters 23 and 24 and end with Chapters 23 and 24,” the FM told reporters.
