Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani met Thursday with European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Skopje.

Expressing gratitude for this visit, Osmani underlined that the European Commission has always been a proven partner of the country’s European integration path, strictly and objectively analyzing the situation and the achieved progress translated into reports on the state’s progress. This support, he emphasized, will continue with the official opening of accession negotiations through the screening process.

This visit comes at the right time, at the very end of the broad consultation process for the proposal of the French presidency, and we consider your address to the Parliament today as a significant contribution to this process and support for the continuation of our European integrations, Osmani emphasized, said the MFA.

He reminded that it is the second time in our history that a President of the European Commission addresses our Parliament. The first time, Romano Prodi, at the very beginning of our European integration path, on the occasion of the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, and now at the very beginning of the negotiations, as the final stage before our full-fledged membership in the Union.