Rokas stressed that the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendship with Bulgaria and the Prespa Agreement with Greece are on the front page of the European Commission's annual report on Skopje's progress.
"This is to get everyone to focus on the essentials, where we make the recommendations, so that it is easier to read and then everyone can go to the other pages to see what we have actually analysed. Good-neighbourly relations and regional cooperation remain an essential element of the enlargement process," Rokas said at a press conference with Macedonian European Affairs Minister Orhan Murtesani.
He recalled that during her visit last week to Skopje, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a very clear message. "It is crystal clear that President Ursula von der Leyen gave a clear message and I would like to quote her. First there was a discussion about the excellent cooperation and she, of course, thanked North Macedonia for that and then she said, 'we have a clear objective, which is to open the first cluster as soon as possible... We know that this is about the constitutional changes that your country has committed to implement. Now we need joint efforts, cooperation and dialogue and I hope all political parties in the country will come together and take this decisive step forward." That is all I have to say," Rokas was adamant.
The EU ambassador quoted parts of the country's progress report, pointing out that North Macedonia must continue to implement EU-related reforms in parallel, namely the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organised crime.
BGNES recalls that Albania has already started formal negotiations for membership of the bloc after being separated from North Macedonia. The two countries were supposed to open the first negotiating cluster together, but this did not take place due to the refusal of the regime of Christian Mickoski to fulfil its obligations under the Negotiating Framework. | BGNES
