Friday, 18 September 2020
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND GENT CAKAJ
Today, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met with Gent Cakaj, Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania.
On this occasion, President Xhaferi thanked the Republic of Albania for being the third member of the Alliance to ratify the Protocol for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to NATO. He briefed the Minister on the 
upcoming work activities of the Assembly, such as the consideration of several legislative amendments imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, then the activities related to the European agenda and the opening of the first chapters at the end of this year. In addition, he informed him about achieving full functionality of the Assembly with the establishment of the delegations for multilateral cooperation and the groups for bilateral cooperation.
President Xhaferi expressed satisfaction with the common interest and initiative for having a bilateral agreement to simplify border procedures (one-stop shop system) for passengers and vehicles at the Kafasan border crossing and expressed support for all projects in support of cooperation between the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania within the IPA 2 Cross-Border Cooperation Program, such as the construction of road, energy and railway infrastructure within Corridor 8.
President Xhaferi welcomed Albania's commitment within the OSCE chairmanship, at a time when Europe is facing serious threats to its security and consequences for its democratic trends.
Minister Cakaj congratulated President Xhaferi on his re-election and welcomed the formation of the Government and the functioning of the Assembly. He stressed Albania's readiness to further enhance overall cooperation, as well as to intensify cooperation between the two friendly countries.
The interlocutors also exchanged views on regional cooperation, as crucial for the European perspective and stability of our region, while the achievement of the common strategic goal for EU membership and the efforts for formal start of membership negotiations by the end of this year were underlined as the main priority of both countries.