In an interview for Nova TV, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichic said that - with the establishment of the new methodology for sectoral co-operation - progress between Skopje and Sofia has been steady and intense since January.

As regards the work and importance of the working groups, Marichic believes that this mode of operation demonstrates that the Governments of the two countries maintain regular communication and quickly complete the tasks they set for themselves, thus ensuring progress in their cooperation and building trust and concrete benefits for citizens.

“I think that the greater the success of the work of the sectoral groups, the easier and faster it will be to overcome open political issues, and that directly leads to the start of the EU membership negotiations of North Macedonia”, Deputy Prime Minister Marichic stated, adding that work is being done at a rapid rate and that it has already been agreed that the next working meeting will be held in Skopje at the beginning of April, with the obligations arising from the meeting in Sofia already completed.

Asked how the meeting of the working group in Sofia went and what was agreed, Marichic said that memoranda were signed at the meeting for concrete cooperation between the two states’ post offices, as well as a two-year program for implementation of the cooperation agreement between the two ministries in the areas of environment and water management, signed in 2019, and opportunities for cooperation in the field of combatting corruption, civil society and the development of cross-border electronic services for citizens were defined.