Thewesternbalkans
A summit of heads of state and government of the participants in the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), as well as a meeting of SEECP foreign ministers was held in Skopje on June 13, as a final activity within the Macedonian Chairmanship – under slogan “Bridging Divisions, Building Trust”.
According to Chairperson-in-Office of SEECP and Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani his country has completed the presidency by reaching consensus on two important issues. “We reached consensus and nominated Bosnia and Herzegovina’s candidate Amer Kapetanovic for the position of Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretary General, whereas the Committee of Political Directors reached consensus over the Skopje Summit declaration”, Osmani announced.
The Declaration adopted by the SEECP leaders, underlining dedication to the European integration process, expressed commitment to regional security and advancing economic cooperation and connectivity, and acknowledged the importance of RCC’s involvement, dedication, and support in promoting and enhancing connectivity in a political, economic, social and cultural sense.
The President of North Macedonia Siljanovska–Davkova has stated that she expects “regardless of the post-election constellation in the European Union, enlargement will remain on the agenda of the future European Commission, because enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace and security”.
According to her “trust is built by rejecting double standards and respecting the law and justice, the principles of international law, including non-interference in the internal affairs of states. In the context of European integration, this means that the participants in the process from the region must insist that the Copenhagen criteria be the only condition for EU membership. The veto is not only against the logic of the European Union, but also against the prosperity of the entire region.”
On the other hand, the Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis stressed the importance of safeguarding the European path of all the countries of the Balkans but he recalled that this “should develop on the basis of specific conditions which are formal and concern respect for democracy, for the rule of law, the faithful observance of all international treaties and the unwavering agreement with everything that has existed in relation to the European Union, to international law as well as, of course, respect for the rights of minorities”.
Among the other Summit’s participants were Albanian President Bajram Begaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Chairman Denis Bećirović, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Montenegro President Jakov Milatović, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djurić, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov, Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary Serghei Mihov, Romania’s Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniela Gitman, Slovenian Ambassador Gregor Presker, Croatian Ambassador Nives Tiganj, Deputy Managing Director for Western Europe, Western Balkans, Turkey and the United Kingdom at the European External Action Service Marko Makovec, RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu and European Commission representative Anna Vezyroglou.
Ahead of the July 1 takeover of the SEECP Chairmanship, Albanian President Bajram Begaj said they would focus on several priorities – EU accession, economic stability, green and digital agenda, tourism, culture and regional networking.
Comment: The successful completion of the North Macedonian Chairmanship of the SEECP is of great importance for the country. It is part of the strategy of the outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani and his team to build an image of North Macedonia as a serious regional player that can find solutions and not provoke conflicts. This was also the purpose of the enormous resources that the Foreign Ministry of the North Macedonia invested in the chairmanship of the OSCE, which ended a few months ago. This image is very necessary in front of the EU, since for decades the country has not been able to permanently resolve certain disputes with its neighbors and EU members – Greece and Bulgaria.
Despite the efforts made by Osmani and his team over the past few years, during this summit his serious differences with the newly elected president of the country, who during his speech had a rather ultimate tone towards the EU and indirectly towards the Greek foreign minister, were clearly visible. Gerapetritis answer was crystal clear – during the few hours he spent in Skopje, he did not meet any Macedonian official, but instead found time to speak with his Turkish counterpart.
