SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
German Federal Minister of State for Europe and Climate Anna Luhrmann paid an official visit to Skopje on Monday. Luhrmann was welcomed by Foreign Affairs Minister Bujar Osmani, with whom she held a meeting and discussed the integration of North Macedonia in the EU and all processes related to that. “North Macedonia has proven that it sticks to the European narrative and values and is a stable partner on the European political scene contributing to the stability in the Balkan region, so a start of the EU accession talks with Skopje would represent a suitable form of valorisation of all those efforts,” Osmani told Luhrmann, who in return welcomed the progress realised by North Macedonia and reiterated the German support for sooner start of the accession talks with Skopje. In Skopje, Luhrmann also held meetings with President Stevo Pendarovski, new PM Dimitar Kovacevski and new Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Maricic, as well as with Leader of VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski. President Pendarovski thanked Luhrmann for the fact that the EU enlargement remains one of the top priorities of the new German government, adding that North Macedonia remains dedicated to the implementation of reforms and fulfilling all conditions to start the accession talks with official Brussels, and voiced hope for further strengthening of the Macedonian-German friendship through different forms of cooperation. At the meeting with Maricic, Luhrmann evaluated that North Macedonia fulfils all conditions to start the accession talks with EU, and added that Germany will continue to support the country, and that official Berlin believes that bilateral issues, like the ones between Skopje and Sofia, should not be part of the accession talks. She said that North Macedonia should not lose hope, and that any solution reached through dialogue and honest friendly intentions cannot be bad or disputed by other politicians. At the meeting with Mickoski, the VMRO-DPMNE Leader told Luhrmann that he is worried about the country’s position when it comes to the integration in the EU, and added that the country should start the accession talks with EU as soon as possible without any further conditioning.
