25. Feb 2022.

Selaković and Osmani: Extremely good and friendly relations between Serbia and North Macedonia

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Nikola Selaković met today in Skopje with Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, and on that occasion it was mutually stated that the relations between the two countries were extremely good, in the field of both political and economic cooperation.

At the press conference, after the sixth meeting with Minister Osmani, Selaković expressed special satisfaction with today's signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of Cultural and Information Centres in Skopje and Belgrade.

According to Minister Selaković, it was stated at today's meeting that the economic and trade exchange in 2021 reached the historic maximum of 1,120,000,000 euros, which exceeded the level of exchange from the period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister Selaković specified that Serbia`s export to North Macedonia reached 815 million euros, and that the export from North Macedonia to Serbia increased by 41.7 percent in the previous year, expressing confidence that the exchange between the two countries would continue to grow as a result of further implementation of the Open Balkans initiative.

“The Open Balkans initiative is inclusive for us and we would like to see the entire Western Balkans within its framework. We are convinced that we will see the interest of others to be part of the winning team, when the initiative starts to produce serious results", Selaković said.

He added that special attention was paid to the European integration of our region during the discussion, and underlined that Serbia was providing full support to North Macedonia in that process.

Minister Selaković also expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the Mixed Commission for the Implementation of the

Agreement between Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia on the Protection of National Minorities held its first session, 17 years after signing the Agreement.

"We also talked about our interest in continuing the practice of holding joint sessions of the Governments of Serbia and North Macedonia and about the necessity of organising the first session of the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation," Selaković said.

The Ministers also talked about the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, and Minister Selaković reiterated the standpoint that Belgrade was committed to dialogue as the only acceptable way to resolve political issues.

Minister Bujar Osmani said that today's meeting was open and constructive, and that it was acknowledged that the relations between the two countries were friendly and partnering, with a tendency to expand the cooperation.

Osmani expressed his satisfaction with the signing of the Agreement on Cultural Centres, which, according to him, opens space for a more intensive cultural exchange.

He was pleased with the achieved level of economic cooperation, noting that there was room for its further expansion.
According to Minister Osmani, the Republic of North Macedonia gives full support to the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština and to resolving all open issues in the region through dialogue.