Litouwse minister Buitenlandse zaken: Litouwen steunt ambitie EU voor Macedonië (en)

On 29 August in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius met with Fatmir Besimi, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM), to discuss Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, fYROM’s progress in implementing internal reforms, further steps in the European integration process, and bilateral relations.

Linkevičius stressed that Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council supported fYROM’s EU ambitions. The Foreign Minister also hailed the important agreements that were recently concluded in Skopje and were necessary for fYROM’s European integration.

“Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council will seek to attain consensus of all Member States of the EU on opening negotiations, which is a big step towards the EU membership of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. However, I would like to point out that fYROM’s progress, firstly, depends on the country’s own efforts to implement the necessary reforms,” Linkevičius said.

Besimi thanked Lithuania for permanent support for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and stressed that the country strived to make further progress towards EU accession and to implement the necessary reforms.

FYROM’s delegation also met with Vytautas Gapšys, First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania, the Chairman of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs Gediminas Kirkilas and the Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs Benediktas Juodka, the Chairman of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with Western Balkans Valerijus Simulik. The delegation also visited the European Institute for Gender Equality and met with Virginija Langbakk, the institute’s Director.