Tuesday, 28 November 2017, Stockholm
Meeting of the President Xhaferi and the Assembly Delegation with Mr. Urban Alin, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi and the Members of the Official Delegation, MPs: Frosina Tashevska – Remenski, Ejup Alimi and Fadil Zendeli met Mr. Urban Alin, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag.
The MPs from the Riksdag: Piri Niemi from Social Democratic Party and Agneta Borienson from the Green Party attended the meeting as well.
The pleasure from the high level of bilateral relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Kingdom of Sweden characterised with mutual understanding and active cooperation was underlined at the Meeting. The recently ratified Declaration for Cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and the Kingdom of Sweden was emphasised. This Declaration reaffirms the support for our strategic priorities and defines particular areas of joint interest on bilateral and multilateral level, such as the Decision of the Swedish Government for Financial and Project Support of the Western Balkan States.
Mr. Xhaferi underlined that the intensification of the communication, which will significantly contribute in the enrichment of the overall relations is in the interest of the two parliaments.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia informed the Speaker Alin on the activities of the Assembly in the oncoming period, when we are expected to demonstrate concrete results from the implementation of the reforms outlined in 3 - 6 – 9 Plan. This shall give us the right to expect EU to eliminate the conditionality of the Recommendation for opening accession negotiations.
The Speaker of the Riksdag acknowledged the successful execution of the parliamentary elections last year, as well as the election of Mr. Xhaferi as President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. The Kingdom of Sweden was among the first states to do so, and the Swedish Parliament and its Speaker recognized the momentum of democratic transition of the sate and extend an invitation for realization of this visit, believing that it will have a strong reflection on strengthening the mutual relations, as well as on the further sincere and strong support of the Euro – Atlantic integration of the Republic of Macedonia.
The President of the Assembly informed the interlocutors on the positive steps in the development of the good neighbourly relations, i.e. the signing of the Agreement with the Republic of Bulgaria, which is to be ratified by the end of this year, as well as the intensified communication between the Ministries on Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece. These positive initiatives are welcomed by the international partners and influence the further upgrade of the strong regional cooperation.
Mr. Alin underlined that only prosperous states have prosperous neighbours; they help and support each other. Hence, Sweden strongly supports these initiatives, which are believed to bring positive steps on the plan for the integration of the Republic of Macedonia in EU and NATO for the benefit of all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Meeting also referred to several current development, such as the reforms in the defence sector, which is to be finalized in may 2018; the economic reforms from the plan for raising the citizens’’ standard through the introduction of minimal salary, adoption of the Law on Urban Greenery which will mean a great step forward for the Republic of Macedonia in the protection of the environment and rising the awareness for the environment. In this context, Mr. Xhaferi conformed the preparedness of the Republic of Macedonia to support the candidacy of Sweden for Membership in the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on reciprocal friendly basis.
The interlocutors underlined that a more intensive cooperation between the two parliaments will contribute in strengthening the Swedish support on the Euro – Atlantic processes of the Republic of Macedonia, a support which was continuous in the past years, but also clear and unequivocal, as well as in direction of the implementation of the EU Enlargement Policy in a wider framework of security, stability, democracy and rule of law in Europe.
The two Speakers shared conviction and expectation that the bilateral cooperation between the two Parliaments will continue in the future with similar dynamics, providing the MPs opportunity to exchange opinions and experience in the parliamentary affairs, international policy and current developments.