State Secretary for Political Affairs Davor Božinović held political consultations with his Macedonian counterpart Abdulkadar Memedi

The collocutors discussed the political and economic relations between Croatia and Macedonia, the state of affairs in the region, and issues concerning the Euro-Atlantic integration. They agreed that the two countries’ bilateral relations are very good and devoid of outstanding issues, while the economic cooperation, which does show a rising trend in the last few years, leaves room for further improvement. The collocutors described the cooperation within regional initiatives as good and expressed willingness to continue exchanging knowledge and experiences regarding the Euro-Atlantic integration.

State Secretary Božinović congratulated Macedonia on the good results in satisfying the criteria for the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU, expressed support for Macedonia’s efforts towards the EU and NATO membership, and said he believed the continuation of Croatia’s accession negotiations was of strategic importance for all of the region’s countries. He familiarized State Secretary Memedi with the experiences concerning Croatia’s EU negotiations, which could be of use to the Macedonian side.

State Secretary Memedi expressed satisfaction with the numerous all-level visits between Macedonia and Croatia, pointing out that the two countries share the same values and foreign-policy priorities. He said Macedonia has made significant progress in meeting the set criteria, and hopes for a positive progress report from the European Commission, as well as for a recommendation for opening the accession negotiations with the EU.

Both collocutors expressed satisfaction with the meeting as a contribution to the steady development of the two countries’ friendly and diverse relations.