Wednesday, 4 December 2019
PRESIDENT XHAFERI MEETS WITH SENATOR IOAN-CRISTIAN CHIRTEŞ, CHAIRPERSON OF THE FRIENDSHIP PARLIAMENTARY GROUP OF THE ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, had a meeting today with Senator Ioan-Cristian Chirteş, Chairman of the Friendship Parliamentary Group with the Republic of North Macedonia in the Parliament of Romania.
President Xhaferi wished Senator Chirteş a warm welcome and stressed that this visit was of particular importance to him, given the overall good relations between the Republic of North Macedonia and Romania, which are characterized by strong friendship, a constructive and open political dialogue based on partnership and mutual respect.
He thanked Romania for its great support to our country during the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest and the Romanian Presidency with the Council of EU, when it lobbied for the Republic of North Macedonia to become part of the EU. In addition, he addressed the 
current developments in the Republic of North Macedonia regarding the integration process, stressing that despite the lack of a negotiation date, he believed in the credibility of the Union and the Council's capacity to recognize the moment and give the green light to start negotiations.
At the bilateral level, it was emphasized that the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia will continue to foster friendly relations with the Parliament of Romania in the future, in particular by intensifying inter-parliamentary cooperation, as well as at the level of parliamentary groups for cooperation with parliaments of other states. At the same time, in addition to strengthening and intensifying parliamentary cooperation, President Xhaferi stressed that the two countries should make greater efforts to boost economic cooperation, tourism and trade as important segments of social life.
Senator Chirteş expressed great satisfaction with this meeting and conveyed the assurances of Romania's highest state leadership for the further support of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the Republic of North Macedonia. He pointed out that Romania will continue to strongly urge EU member states to urgently integrate the Republic of North Macedonia into the European family to which it belongs. For him, compromise agreements with neighboring countries that put an end to open issues are a huge contribution to the positive outcome of this process.
Senator Chirteş took the opportunity to invite President Xhaferi to pay a visit to the Romanian Parliament to deepen cooperation between the two institutions.