Vice-PM Osmani meets State Officials from Ireland, Finland

The Vice-PM for European Affairs Bujar Osmani hosted on Tuesday delegations from Ireland and Finland, headed by Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee and the State Secretary at the Finnish Foreign Ministry Samuli Virtanen. “Ireland and Finland are both great friends and supporters of Macedonia, having in mind the fact that Ireland managed the EU presidency back in 2004 when Macedonia filed its application for EU membership, while a year later, when Finnish politician Olli Rehn was EU Enlargement Commissioner, Macedonia acquired the status of candidate for EU membership. This shows not only the great support from these countries, but also the very long and difficult road of Macedonia towards EU integration,” Osmani said at a press conference after the meeting with McEntee and Virtanen. The Irish and Finnish state officials also met the PM Zoran Zaev later on Tuesday, with whom they discussed Macedonia’s progress towards NATO and EU membership.