Good relations between Serbia and North Macedonia are important for the region

Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani was on a visit to Serbia during which he met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Speaker of the National Assembly Ivica Dacic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

In the meeting with Minister Osmani, President Vucic said that good relations between the two countries were of utmost importance for the entire region and pointed out "mini- Schengen" as an example of successful cooperation for the benefit of the citizens and the benefit of the economic development of countries actively involved in that initiative.

President Vucic singled out the importance of the Memorandum signed by Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania, which enabled mutual assistance and cooperation of their respective health systems for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
He mentioned concrete projects that would contribute to better connectivity and economic cooperation between the two countries, such as the modernization of the railway to Skopje and the strengthening of the infrastructure at the border crossings.

President Vucic also said that Serbia supported the European integration of North Macedonia.

Minister Osmani thanked for the donation of vaccines, which President Vucic handed over to Prime Minister Zaev on Sunday, thus enabling the vaccination of North Macedonia's citizens to begin and which, as he said, awakened new hope.

The interlocutors also discussed the improvement of the position of Serbs in North Macedonia and of Macedonians in Serbia.

National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic opined that the bilateral relations between Serbia and North Macedonia were good, as evidenced by the intensive political dialogue and exchange of high and top-level visits.

He pointed out that the friendship between the two countries and peoples was additionally strengthened during the pandemic, as proven by the vaccines donated by Serbia to North Macedonia as a sign of solidarity.

Minister Osmani agreed that the relations between the two countries were developing in the right direction, pointing out that cooperation with the countries in the region was a priority for North Macedonia’s Government, and accordingly, his first visit as Minister of Foreign Affairs was a visit to Serbia. He stressed the importance of continuous political dialogue as it is the best way to resolve all issues.

In a meeting with Minister Osmani, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic pointed out that Serbia was very interested in strengthening bilateral relations and developing regional cooperation within the framework of "mini-Schengen", assessing that this initiative was of great importance for the economic development of all countries involved in that process.

She emphasized that holding intergovernmental sessions was an excellent platform for agreeing on future steps towards improving economic and trade cooperation and stronger connectivity between Serbia and North Macedonia.

The collocutors reaffirmed mutual support on the path to membership of the European Union.

On his visit to Serbia, Osmani also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selakovic.

Belgrade,
18 February 2021