Tuesday, 5 November 2019
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XAFFERI AND MS HELENE CONWAY-MOURET, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH SENATE
Today, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia met with Helene Conway-Mouret, Vice President of the French Senate and a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces in the French Senate.
The meeting was also attended by MP Panche Ivanov as Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia for Cooperation with the French Parliament.
At the beginning of the meeting, Helene Conway-Mouret awarded the President of the Assembly, Talat Xhaferi, a Gold Medal of the Senate, as a symbol of the friendship and fruitful cooperation between our Assembly and the French Senate, whereupon President Xhaferi extended his gratitude and expressed his utmost respect to the French Senate.
In his opening remarks, President Talat Xhaferi noted that he had the honour and pleasure to welcome the Vice President of the French Senate, Helene Conway-Mouret, stating that the political relations between the Republic of North Macedonia and the French Republic were unburdened, exceptional, friendly and high-level, and added that these relations were characterized by open, continuous, profound political dialogue, with an interest in deepening bilateral cooperation in all areas. A confirmation to this, he said, were the continuous high and highest level exchange visits, as well as the working visit of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia for cooperation with the French Parliament, that is, the National Assembly and the French Senate at the beginning of October this year.
The Vice President of the French Senate Mouret noted that her trip was organized with the desire to deepen parliamentary diplomacy, seeing it as an occasion not only for getting acquainted with the country, but also for deepening the cooperation between the Members of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia and the French senators, adding therefore that there is an interest in our country while referring to the previous day's talks with the members of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia for cooperation with the French Parliament, which were held at a very high level, politically speaking.
The President of the Legislature of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, noted that although the country had not received a date for opening EU membership negotiations, the Republic of North Macedonia would continue to implement reforms from the European Reform Agenda, in the interest of the citizens who are always seeking improvement. Since our country's strategic goals are EU and NATO and 70% of the citizens support them, and thanks to the support provided heretofore by the French Republic, we will be able to overcome the current situation through further cooperation and be on the same path.
At the end of the meeting, Vice President Mouret stated that she would convey our expectations to Paris in her report on her visit to the Republic of North Macedonia.
The two interlocutors agreed that on the basis of the ties and cooperation so far, possibilities for intensifying and deepening the cooperation in the future are being considered.