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Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva: “Our Common Future in the Balkans Passes through Reconciliation”

04 July 2019 News

“One of the principal goals of the Berlin Process is to connect people and business. Today we all used the word ‘reconciliation’ because it will enable us to build a common future with the truth of history as a point of departure: by launching joint initiatives, physical connectivity, youth cooperation organisations like RYCO, i.e. to learn to live together and build a common future.”

These are the words by which Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva summed up the results of the meeting of the chief diplomats of the Berlin Process countries. This is a politico-diplomatic initiative involving the six countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania, and EU Member States: Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia.

The foreign ministers gathered in Poznan as Poland holds the 2019 presidency of the Berlin Process. For the first time next year two countries: the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, will assume a joint presidency of the organisation.

“The Western Balkans were also a top priority during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council. Let me recall that we in the EU, too, must keep our promises, just as we insist that the candidate countries should carry out reforms. That is why accession negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania must begin in October at the latest. I believe that our joint presidency of the Berlin Process with the Republic of North Macedonia will set a positive example in the region, as was the case with our Friendship Treaty and with the joint observances of historic events, initiated by Prime Ministers Borissov and Zaev,” Ekaterina Zaharieva emphasised.

Germany’s Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth welcomed the upcoming co-presidency of the Berlin Process by Sofia and Skopje, and the chief Polish diplomat Jacek Czaputowicz, who hosted the ministerial meeting, seconded Zaharieva, saying that he was disappointed at the postponement until October of the start of negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia.

“For the first time the Berlin Process will be co-chaired by a State neighbouring on the Western Balkan countries: friendly Bulgaria,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Nikola Dimitrov. “Our joint presidency will be a success, we will listen to the experience of the previous presidency holders and to civil society.”

Earlier in the day in Poznan, Minister Zaharieva took part in a discussion with civil society representatives from the Western Balkans.

“The Berlin Process adds value in that it sets itself goals beyond project financing. Money is important, but the fact that leaders and politicians sit around a table with business and non-governmental organisations every year to discuss problems in the region openly and candidly is the real value added by the process,” she said,

As an example of fine interaction between the Government and the NGO sector in Bulgaria, Zaharieva cited the Council for Implementation of the Updated Strategy to Continue the Reform of the Judicial System, in which representatives of the non-governmental sector participate in the discussion of each legislative proposal in the area of justice.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister further explained that Bulgaria has a national plan for the implementation of the so-called European Youth Guarantee, a micro-credit scheme for young entrepreneurs under Operational Programme Human Resources Development, and a smoothly running programme for internships in the state administration called Career Start. Zaharieva recalled that the Sofia Declaration, adopted after the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, formulates specific initiatives putting a special focus on youth.

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