Friday, 6 November 2020
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND MEP ANDREAS SCHIEDER
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met with the Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Republic of North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Austrian MP Mr. Andreas Schieder.
Firstly, President Xhaferi expressed deep condolences for the November 2 events in Vienna and condemned the terrorist attacks as acts of terror that have neither nation nor religion.
Noting that the European Parliament attaches great attention to the enlargement and strengthening of relations with the Western Balkan countries, Xhaferi also thanked Mr. Schieder for his personal contribution, as co-chair of the EU-Republic of North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee and participant in the Jean Monnet Dialogue. He expressed hope that the fruitful and constructive inter-parliamentary dialogue will be restarted as soon as the delegation of the Joint Parliamentary Committee in the Assembly of the RNM is constituted.
MEP Schieder expressed hope that the cooperation with the European Parliament, both within the Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Jean Monnet Dialogue will continue with the members of the new composition of the Assembly.
The two interlocutors also exchanged views on the assessments contained in the European Commission Report on the country published last month, which noted the progress made during the reporting period, as well as on the Reform Agenda, identifying the areas that need more work.
Regarding the work of the legislatures in conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the interlocutors agreed that physical presence in the work is a priority, but in these extraordinary circumstances continuous work of the parliaments must be provided and therefore, possibilities for online participation of those MPs who will not be able to physically attend due to the virus should be considered.
Regarding the Berlin Process, MEP Schieder welcomed the joint presidency of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria and expressed confidence that efforts will be made to overcome differences on open issues between the two countries and that the first intergovernmental conference, under the German Presidency of the Council of the EU will be held in December this year.