Skopje and Prishtina, efforts to deepen cooperation

2024-08-05 17:57:45, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, visited Skopje this Monday, where he was received by his counterpart, Hristijan Mickoski. The heads of the two governments have discussed a number of issues, including the incident of August 2, namely the way President Vjosa Osmani was treated by the Skopje airport authorities. An official report after full investigations is expected to clarify the incident. The Macedonian Prime Minister emphasized the desire to have sincere and fruitful relations with Kosovo, while Prime Minister Kurti welcomed North Macedonia's support regarding Kosovo's efforts to integrate into international organizations.

The two prime ministers of neighboring countries are meeting for the first time in an official meeting in an effort to deepen economic cooperation and in general relations between their countries, while the visit of Prime Minister Kurti to Skopje was announced only a few hours before his arrival.

While in the meeting between the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti and his Macedonian counterpart, Hristijan Mickovski, the infrastructural connections between the two countries were discussed, in particular the section of the road from Skopje to Bllacë on the border with Kosovo, but also the idea of ??a road that would connect Prizren with Tetova, on the other hand, in a joint press conference, the issue of the recent incident at the Skopje airport that involved the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani Sadriu, prevailed.

" There is no doubt that it was a difficult experience for the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Her Excellency, Vjosa Osmani Sadriu on August 2 at the Skopje airport, especially since she was with her family and two little girls, the authorities of To the Republic of North Macedonia, the heads of state here have expressed their regret and there will be an official report that will clarify this issue in full and in detail so that we understand what exactly happened, but also so that it never happens again. no more such situations" , said Prime Minister Kurti.

Mr. Kurti said that the institutions of Kosovo do not consider this case as a provocation on the part of North Macedonia, while they are waiting for measures to be taken.

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, said that he is sorry for this incident. He said it was not the first but the third case. Mr. Mickoski said that he offered to meet the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani and accompany her when she would travel and use the services of the Skopje airport.

The Macedonian side emphasizes that in commercial flights all heads of state or government are subject to the same control protocols as other passengers.

But the authorities in Skopje seem to be focusing more on the illegal intervention of the security of the speaker of the country's Parliament, Afrim Gashi, to the security of the airport, for which Mr. Mickoski says that if it is confirmed, the perpetrators will not be able to avoid confrontation with justice.

After the investigations, an official report is expected to shed light on the incident with President Osmani.

"Let that situation be clarified completely and in detail and I am very optimistic about the future" , said the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.

His Macedonian colleague Hristijan Mickovski says that the diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been damaged and they will take on new positive dimensions in the future.

The Macedonian Prime Minister announced that there were two other similar cases at the Skopje airport when the Social Democratic League and DUI were in power, but that they were not made public, while he accuses the current opposition of trying to take advantage low political points and that there are politicians, according to him, who will try to negatively influence the relations between the two countries.

In the meeting of the Prime Ministers and government delegations of Skopje and Pristina, the cases of arrests of former members of the KLA in the territory of North Macedonia on the basis of arrest warrants issued by Serbia, but also for the citizens of North Macedonia, were also discussed. who are hiding in Kosovo and who are accused or convicted of committing crimes. The Ministers of Justice of both countries promise that they will seek to find a solution for these cases.

Security and defense issues were also discussed at the meeting.

The trade exchange between North Macedonia and Kosovo for the past year has reached the figure of 500 million euros and the two governments intend to increase this exchange even more.

Prime Minister Kurti pointed out the goal of strengthening cooperation within the Berlin Process, which he sees as a single comprehensive regional platform with the citizens of the region as the final beneficiaries./ VOA