Rose-Roth Seminar: EU decision on accession talks in June 2019 in focus

The 98th Rose-Roth Seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which is held in Skopje from 27 to 29 June is dedicated to Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Western Balkans: Reinforcing the European Peace Project.

Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi in the introductory speech said that he is convinced that name dispute agreement signed by Prime Ministers Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras will be implemented in full by both sides at late by year-end and Macedonia will become 30th NATO member state in December 2018 or early in January 2019.

Xhaferi said that Tuesday’s decision of the EU’s General Affairs Council should be encouraging for all of us to do what is necessary.

“The fact that the start date is postponed should not have influence, since the date is determined, and that is June 2019. It should be motivating for all of us, to make all preparations for closing the chapters as soon as possible,” Xhaferi said answering a question from a member of parliament from Albania.

PM Zoran Zaev in his address expressed great satisfaction for getting a date for EU accession negotiations in June 2019, and also congratulates Albania for this.

He said that Tuesday’s decision is a clear roadmap for the future of our country, it gives us the incentive to move on. Macedonia, he added, will continue to work on reforms to achieve the ultimate goal of membership in the EU and NATO, for which there is a social consensus.

President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Paolo Alli said that he hopes that the NATO leaders will follow the example of the EU. He welcomed the name dispute pointing out that it is so far unseen progress in relations between the two countries.

The former US Ambassador James Pardew, as former US Special Envoy in the Balkans and NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations in his address he called the Republic of Macedonia as Republic of North Macedonia.

This event is organised with the generous support of the Swiss Government and DCAF. The Seminar will bring together approximately 120 participants in total. The key objective of Rose-Roth Seminars is to facilitate dialogue on regional security matters among legislators from NATO and partner nations.