In his first official visit to North Macedonia, Minister Igli Hasani emphasized that Albania and the Republic of Macedonia have shown extraordinary commitment on their way to the EU and are ready for the next step: holding the second Intergovernmental Conference.

Below is the full speech of Minister Hasani during the joint media conference with his counterpart Bujar Osmani.

“It is really a pleasure that I am in Skopje today and that I had the opportunity to meet my colleague and friend, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Mr. Bujar Osmani. We had a great and constructive conversation, as we have in fact every time we sit down and talk together.

Allow me to start by congratulating Bujar for the excellent leadership he has shown during the OSCE chairmanship from RMV.

Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2023 was undoubtedly a challenging task because the truth is that since the beginning of the illegal Russian aggression against Ukraine the OSCE has changed a lot. There is no clearer evidence of the good work you have been able to do than the fact that despite the deadlocks and deadlocks created by Russia in the OSCE, you managed to have a successful mandate.

The performance of North Macedonia in the OSCE and of Albania in the UN Security Council and earlier in the OSCE are the most irrefutable indicators of the maturity that our countries’ foreign policy has reached. A foreign policy, which now more than ever should be put at the disposal of our common agenda for a region with peace, security and stability, with more integration and regional cooperation, but also with more alignment towards the EU.

It is precisely this aim, to work together for these objectives, that gave rise to this visit and this tour to other countries in the region. Of course, in this context, the visit to North Macedonia has a special importance. Both our countries have shown extraordinary commitment on the road to the EU. Both our countries have achieved impressive results in modernizing and Europeanizing reforms. We have just successfully completed the screening process and are waiting to take further steps in a process for which both our countries have made many sacrifices and during which we have faced difficult obstacles and obstacles.

We have walked together on a large part of this road, supporting and helping each other. I strongly believe that this joint journey has influenced to strengthen the cooperation between us and to make us see the region and its future in the same way.

The further expansion and deepening of this cooperation, with initiatives and concrete ideas, is vital for the future of the region in a time full of ambiguity and uncertainty like the one we live in.

One of the biggest and most transformative projects we are working on, together with Italy and Bulgaria, but also with the support of other partners, is undoubtedly the VIIIth Corridor, which, after decades of persistence from our countries, has not it is more simply a project on paper, but part of the Pan-European Corridors.

This corridor will transform the strategic position of our countries, but it will simultaneously transform our economies and our development perspective. Therefore, we must invest in exploring the ways in which we will cooperate to extract from Corridor VIII, but also from the Growth Plan for BP, the maximum benefits for our countries and for the whole region.

Today more than ever our countries, our societies share common interests and a common vision for the future.

Albania will continue to follow closely the developments in the RMV, especially in an election year like this one, where the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in the spring. We wish that this process goes well, but above all we wish that this process and its result will not bring any change in the commitment to the common European perspective.

In this context, I want to emphasize our pride for the extraordinary role that the Albanian factor has played and continues to play for the stability of North Macedonia; for strengthening the ties between our countries for which the Albanian factor has served as a connecting bridge; and above all, for the preservation of North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic orientation during a journey that, as I said, has been difficult and has required difficult sacrifices.

Albania has supported and will continue to support the constructive engagement of Albanian political subjects and Albanians in the RMV in the political process and in the effort to consolidate the rule of law, democracy, social cohesion and equality among all citizens.

I believe that the fact that North Macedonia, albeit temporarily, will have an Albanian prime minister for the first time in its history, is a symbolic indicator of the progress made by this country and this society, for which I want to express to you my respect and admiration for all the citizens of North Macedonia. We support and encourage the continuation of North Macedonia’s efforts and achievements in building a functional multi-ethnic society based on the full implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Law on Languages”.