These are agreements signed at joint Kosovo-North Macedonia meeting

The first joint meeting of the two governments of the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Republic of Kosovo, Prime Minister Zaev stressed, is also a confirmation of excellent friendly relations, close co-operation, continued realisation of bilateral interests and the sharing of common definitions for the Western Balkans as a stable region of peace, fully integrated into the EU and NATO.

I am convinced that more projects will arise from the meeting that will enable closer co-operation between governments and ministries and competent institutions, which are in the interest of our citizens. There are many possibilities ahead of us. They link many common interests to us, so our economies are one to the other”, Prime Minister Zaev stressed in his opening words at the joint meeting.

Zaev stressed that agreements and memorandums for infrastructure interconnection of our countries have been put in place at this first joint meeting, with the aim of facilitating and advancing co-operation and economic communication, as well as those involving cross-border projects with the support of EU IPA programmes, co-operation in the field of energy, as well as in tourism, culture and other plans.

Our two countries are not large in the territory, and we are similar in this. But we are similar in our great ambitions and potential. The Republic of Northern Macedonia is ready to share with the Republic of Kosovo experiences from our NATO integration on your way to membership in the Alliance. We jointly pave the way for full EU integration. We expect that soon we will start talks with the EU in chapters, and in the future we will be able to co-operate even in this field of”, the chairman of the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Zoran Zaev.

At the beginning of his speech, Republic of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti expressed condolences to the victims from the incident at the module hospital in Tetovo and to all victims caused by the pandemic COVID-19.

He praised the holding of the two governments' joint meeting as the historic moment of relations between the two countries. A brief look through the pages of history finds Skopje and Pristina and Prizren and Tetovo in one country, and that our countries share much with each other as our story is filled with events that have inseparably determined our fate, Prime Minister Kurti said.

For Prime Minister Kurti, this first meeting is an expression of the will to mark a more intense stage of bilateral co-operation, but also an expression of appreciation for our good neighbourly relations.

“The road of both our states, but also that of other states in the region is that of co-operation, mutual inclusion and respect where we don't guard our backs from each other because we know that our citizens' fates are linked and our future is in common”, Prime Minister Kurti said.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Northern Macedonia, Artan Grubi, shared the assessment that the joint gathering of both governments is historic and thanked for the energy of all those involved in preparing the joint assembly of both governments.

Another door for advancing co-operation in many areas has been opened, Deputy Prime Minister Grubi stressed that energy in organising this joint meeting will also be forwarded to implementation of the memorandums and agreements signed today.

Kosovo's First Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, was thanked for the warm hospitality and for the possibility of meeting together to share the two countries' experiences in the EU integration process. He stressed that the launch of northern Macedonia's EU membership talks will also be a success for the Republic of Kosovo because there will be neighbours close by who can greatly help in the aspirations of the Republic of Kosovo for membership in the European Union.

Further part of the meeting included deputy prime ministers and ministers of the two governments who talked about economic co-operation, co-operation in fighting organised crime and corruption, in the joint meeting with natural disasters.

Joint initiatives in protecting the environment were announced in the joint meeting for the collaboration of rural development and agriculture projects, for legal assistance in civil procedures, cross-border co-operation and co-operation in projects for support of northern Macedonia and Kosovo on the road to EU membership.

At the conclusion of the joint meeting, Prime Minister Zaev voiced confidence that in the coming period the ministers of the two governments will be committed to implementing duties stemming from documents that were signed today and that this will also give impetus to the development of co-operation in many areas to the future.

Our close co-operation can only encourage other partners from the region and from the EU to co-operate with us even better. We testify that we are responsible governments whose first concern is the citizen's interest in better life”, the chairman of the Government of Northern Macedonia stressed at the joint meeting with the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.

These are the other agreements:

- The diaspora Co-operation Agreement,

-The Status of Armed Forces of the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Security Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (SOFA),

-The protocol to implement the Agreement on Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo for the border management of railway communications,

- The Energy Sector Co-operation memorandum,

- Co-operation agreement on the tourism field,

- The memorandum for collaboration in the field of innovations and technological development and entrepreneurs,

-The Partnership Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo, represented by the Ministry of Administration for Local Self-Government as a partner of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, represented by the Ministry of Local Self-Government as a partner for granting the agreement for technical assistance 2019/410-322, within the framework of the Kosovo IPA Macedonia North 2014/20 programme,

-The memorandum for co-operation between the Ministry of Local Self-government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Ministry for Regional Development of the Republic of Kosovo and

-The memorandum for co-operation between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and the Water Economy of the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development of the Republic of Kosovo.