Friday, 27 October 2017, Budapest
MEETING OF PRESIDENT XHAFERI WITH MR. IVAN BRAJOVIĆ, MRS. MAJA GOJKOVIĆ AND MR. KADRI VESELI, PRESIDENTS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF MONTENEGRO, SERBIA AND KOSOVO
Within the framework of participation in the Conference of Speakers of the Parliament of the Western Balkan Countries which takes place in Budapest, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, today had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Ivan Brajović, President of the Parliament of Montenegro.
President Xhaferi, expressed particular satisfaction on the friendly and constructive bilateral relations which are exercised without open issues, with the same strategic foreign - policy priorities - full-fledged membership of the Republic of Macedonia in NATO and EU and membership of Montenegro in EU. The recent successful holding of the Adriatic Charter Summit in Podgorica has given a particular impetus to the Euro-Atlantic efforts, where the Republic of Macedonia was a co-chair. Mr. Talat Xhaferi, underlined that the Republic of Macedonia is interested in intensifying the political - security cooperation in the NATO context and transferring the experiences of Montenegro in this area.
Mr. Brajović, expressed confidence that Montenegro will continue to give strong support to the Republic of Macedonia on its path towards Euro-Atlantic integrations, and at the same time expressed expectation that the European perspective will become a reality for all the aspirant countries for EU membership. According to him, the membership of Montenegro in NATO contributes to the safety and security of the whole region.
During the meeting with the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Mrs. Maja Gojković, she congratulated Mr. Xhaferi on the election as the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. Thereby, Mr. Xhaferi expressed satisfaction that both countries have a political dialogue at all levels, and the fact that the overall communication and cooperation at a bilateral, regional and multilateral aspect is constructive, provides an open and positive approach in resolving issues of mutual interest.
Mr. Gojković underlined that the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia is ready to continue and promote the communication with the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, especially at the level of Parliamentary groups for cooperation that are established in both parliaments. She emphasized that the advantage of the MPs is that they can always have closer cooperation in order to fully realize the needs of the citizens. The two presidents, expressed readiness for coordination in the procedure of ratification of agreements which will be signed by the governments of both countries.
At the meeting with Mr. Kadri Veseli, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Xhaferi underlined that the relations and bilateral cooperation between the two countries are friendly and constructive, and expressed confidence that they will be strengthened and more intensive in the future, in all areas of mutual interest. Particularly, faith was expressed in the mutual support in the area of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of both countries.
Mr. Veseli pointed out the need to solve the issues related to student exchange, respectively to allow free movement and stay through legal facilitation. To this end, it was suggested that the competent Committees on education of both Assemblies and the competent Ministries of Foreign and Internal Affairs to find a common solution for achieving this goal.
In the context of inter-parliamentary cooperation, Mr. Xhaferi informed that in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia is established a Parliamentary Group for Cooperation with the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, and was expressed expectation that such a group will also be established in the Assembly of Kosovo, in order to begin with closer meetings and exchange of experiences in the parliamentary work, international politics and other topical issues.
The interlocutors shared mutual beliefs and expectations that the inter-parliamentary cooperation will be intensified and promoted, with the aim of mutual contribution to the overall inter-state cooperation.