Today, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Benedetto Della Vedova embarked on a visit to the Republic of North Macedonia. The Deputy Minister met the Speaker of the Parliament, Talat Xhaferi, to whom he reiterated Italy’s support to the country in the process of European integration and examined the key bilateral cooperation dossiers, also at interparliamentary level. The accession process was also the focus of the subsequent meetings with Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Zoran Popov. Della Vedova emphasised to his interlocutors that Italy believes in the need for a rapid start to negotiations on accession to the European Union, not least to prevent other players from filling the gap in the meantime.
The Deputy Ministeralso expressed the hope for a further deepening of the already intense economic and trade relations between the two countries.
Finally, Della Vedova served as keynote speaker at a conference on “The future of Europe and young people”, attended by students from Macedonian high schools and European youth ambassadors. To them, the Deputy Minister highlighted how today’s global challenges, such as pandemics, climate change and migration, require ever closer cooperation between neighbouring countries within an EU, founded on the common values of the rule of law and respect for human rights. “European unity cannot be said to be complete without the involvement of the Western Balkans, which are at the heart of the continent”, Della Vedova concluded.
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