Zaev and Mitsotakis meet in New York, Greece will support North Macedonia’s EU accession talks
North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
At the meeting, Mitsotakis voiced his support for the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union and noted that consistent and timely implementation of the Prespa Agreement is crucial to boosting relations and securing North Macedonia’s European perspective, government press service said.
Zaev said that government of North Macedonia is fully committed to constructive approach in building mutual partnership based on friendship and common interest for prosperous region in the interest of the citizens of the two countries.
Zaev emphasized that the government is ready to fully implement the action plan for intensifying and enriching the cooperation between the two countries, as foreseen by the Prespa Agreement, which he noted is a historic step and significant agreement on building good neighbourly relations, closer cooperation and constructive and positive relations between the two countries.
Zaev expressed his respect towards Greece for being the first NATO member state to ratify North Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol, which is to be finalized soon.
He briefed Mitsotakis on efforts to boosting the implementation of the ongoing reforms aimed at opening EU accession talks, for which a positive decision is expected in October.
At the meeting they concluded that the promotion of economic cooperation, increase of trade exchange and direct investments are of mutual benefit for the citizens of both countries, press release reads.
According to Greek media, Mitsotakis said he would have not have signed the Prespa Agreement if he had been in power in 2018 when the deal was inked. However, since it was ratified by the Greek Parliament in January this year, the agreement is now part of international law and therefore the government will respect it.
The meeting was also attended by Foreign Affairs Ministers Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Dendias, Deputy PM for European Affairs Bujar Osmani, Government Spokesperson Stelios Petsas as well as Alexandra Papadopoulou, foreign policy advisor to Greek PM.