site.btaForeign Minister Osmani: EU Membership of All SEECP Participants Is Stability Guarantee and Priority

In his capacity as Chairperson-in-Office of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani of the Republic of North Macedonia opened a plenary session of the foreign ministers in Skopje. It is held under the motto "Bridging Divides, Building Trust" during the one-year Chairpersonship-in-Office of North Macedonia, the Foreign Ministry in Skopje said.

Osmani thanked the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) for its support.

"Allow me once again to announce the highlights of our foundation documents, which state the main objective of our regional process - good-neighbourly relations, stability, security and cooperation in South-East Europe and an aspiration to integrate the countries into the Euro-Atlantic family of democratic nations, which are relevant and applicable both today and in the past," Osmani said.

In his words, the SEECP participants take credit for important achievements in many areas, but they should redouble their efforts towards EU membership for all participants, which is the ultimate goal.

"EU enlargement is one of the most successful peace projects on the European continent, bringing indispensable value to building sustainable societies and achieving economic progress and prosperity," Osmani said, reiterating that "more integration before membership is an appropriate solution to long-standing challenges" facing the EU Member States.

Also on the agenda are the adoption of the RCC's Annual Report, a discussion on the election of a new RCC Secretary General, on which a consensus was reached on Wednesday, and the adoption of a Declaration of the SEECP Skopje Summit for heads of state and government, which will take place Thursday afternoon.