The second meeting of the interdepartmental working group “European Cooperation - Green Transition and Digital Transformation, Rule of Law” with the Republic of Northern Macedonia took place yesterday at the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW).

The Bulgarian side was represented by Borislav Sandov - Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policy and Minister of Environment and Water, Kalina Konstantinova - Deputy Prime Minister for Effective Governance, Bozhidar Bozhanov - Minister of e-Government, and Borislav Ganchev - Deputy Minister of Justice.

On behalf of the Republic of Northern Macedonia the meeting was attended by Bojan Marichic - Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Slavica Grkovska - Deputy Prime Minister for Good Governance Policies, Naser Nuredini - Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, and Admirim Aliti - Minister of Information Society and Administration.

“Today we continue the dialogue based on the principle of good neighborly relations, which is a guarantee for the development of cooperation between our countries,” said Deputy Prime Minister Borislav Sandov in his greeting to the Macedonian side. On environmental issues, he said modern society is particularly sensitive to the quality of life, which requires the effective application of high environmental standards and ensuring a healthy environment. “In this way we will guarantee prosperity and the consolidation of the European perspective in our region. Therefore, I reconfirm Bulgaria’s readiness to share experience in the transposition and implementation of European environmental legislation. We are ready to provide our expertise in the EU pre-accession process to the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and in particular on Chapter “Environment”, said Minister Borislav Sandov.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Bojan Marichic, in turn, thanked for the good cooperation and said: “Today’s meeting is proof that in times of crisis we can work together. The topics of the work meeting are very important to us and I am optimistic about the success of our joint work.”

The Deputy Prime Minister Kalina Konstantinova and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Slavitsa Grkovska discussed topics of cooperation between the two countries towards better governance. Minister Bozhidar Bozhanov and Minister Admirim Aliti discussed the possibilities for cooperation in the field of cybersecurity and digital transformation. The ways of synchronizing the legislation in order to improve the investment climate, as well as the fight against corruption and e-justice were discussed with the Deputy Minister of Justice Borislav Ganchev.

During the working meeting, Minister Sandov and Minister Nuredini signed a program of joint activities for 2022 - 2023. This is a two-year program for the implementation of the agreement between the Ministries of Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia on cooperation in the field of environment and water (signed in 2019). Minister Nuredini said that North Macedonia relies on Bulgaria’s help in the negotiation process in the field of environmental protection.

A cooperation agreement was also signed between the postal services of the two countries, i.e. “Bulgarian Posts” and the “Post of Northern Macedonia”. A memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Electronic Government and the Ministry of Information Society and Administration of Northern Macedonia will also be signed.

It is planned to establish a joint fund to support civil society organizations on projects that are important for both countries in the field of cross-border cooperation. The criteria, the composition of the commission that will evaluate the projects, and the amount of funding that will be provided by the two countries for the structuring of the fund will be determined. Weekly working meetings of the Good Governance subgroup between the two countries will also begin. A meeting on public administration reform is forthcoming in April – for sharing good practices and seeking solutions.

The third meeting of the interdepartmental working group between Bulgaria and North Macedonia “European Cooperation - Green Transition and Digital Transformation, Rule of Law” is scheduled for early April in Skopje.