FM Mrkić: All will benefit from Ohrid meeting

OHRID Ivan Mrkic says the ministerial meeting of the SEECP was guided by a constructive desire to strengthen regional cooperation as much as possible. The gathering of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was held on Friday in Ohrid, Macedonia. FM Mrkic: All will benefit from Ohrid meeting “We will all benefit from this meeting. This morning we had various discussions on all topics relevant to the SEECP, all the participants mounted the speaking platform... I am satisfied with the Ohrid Declaration and I think this is a step forward in creating new ties and atmosphere of help to all of us as we are approaching the EU,” said the Serbian foreign minister. Commenting on the situation regarding the cancellation of the Ohrid Summit planned for the weekend and the participation of Kosovo in today's ministerial meeting, Mrkic said: “We agreed that Kosovo be a ministerial meeting participant, a special guest of a kind, because it is useful to hear what they think.” “We are meeting with them all the time and we are in a situation of coming up with certain solutions that we will later have to jointly implement, given that we want to be as good as our words and really implement what we have signed,” said the Serbian foreign minister. Asked what else is there for Serbia to do on its road to the EU, Mrkic said that there is no longer any requirement or step that Serbia has to meet or make in order to obtain that which it considers it deserves and which many EU member-states believe more or less openly that Serbia deserves. “But since it is not we who decide, we must all be patient and wait until the end of June to hear the European Council decision,” Mrkic added. He added that nobody can guarantee anything up to that point, because there are different opinions and ways of understanding the situation. Before the start of today's plenary session, a working breakfast was organized for the heads of delegation of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. The meeting was hosted by European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Igor Luksic, the Serbian Foreign Ministry has said in a release. The ministerial meeting was held in the “Gymnich” formula, used by the foreign ministers of EU countries for holding informal talks, at which the participants are listed under their own names. Mrkic said that he has been in constant communication with Fule and other senior officials as of recently. Minister Mrkic explained earlier that under the SEECP founding document, only member-states of the process can take part in its summits. “By the nature of things, even if it was a country, Kosovo is not a member. A question may be raised if someone who is considered by some to be a country, and by others not to be a country, can take part. According to the founding document, they have no access there,” he said. Ivan Mrkic (Photo courtesy of the Serbian MFA) Tanjug

FM Mrkić: All will benefit from Ohrid meeting

“We will all benefit from this meeting. This morning we had various discussions on all topics relevant to the SEECP, all the participants mounted the speaking platform... I am satisfied with the Ohrid Declaration and I think this is a step forward in creating new ties and atmosphere of help to all of us as we are approaching the EU,” said the Serbian foreign minister.

Commenting on the situation regarding the cancellation of the Ohrid Summit planned for the weekend and the participation of Kosovo in today's ministerial meeting, Mrkić said:

“We agreed that Kosovo be a ministerial meeting participant, a special guest of a kind, because it is useful to hear what they think.”

“We are meeting with them all the time and we are in a situation of coming up with certain solutions that we will later have to jointly implement, given that we want to be as good as our words and really implement what we have signed,” said the Serbian foreign minister.

Asked what else is there for Serbia to do on its road to the EU, Mrkić said that there is no longer any requirement or step that Serbia has to meet or make in order to obtain that which it considers it deserves and which many EU member-states believe more or less openly that Serbia deserves.

“But since it is not we who decide, we must all be patient and wait until the end of June to hear the European Council decision,” Mrkić added.

He added that nobody can guarantee anything up to that point, because there are different opinions and ways of understanding the situation.

Before the start of today's plenary session, a working breakfast was organized for the heads of delegation of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo.

The meeting was hosted by European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Igor Lukšić, the Serbian Foreign Ministry has said in a release.

The ministerial meeting was held in the “Gymnich” formula, used by the foreign ministers of EU countries for holding informal talks, at which the participants are listed under their own names.

Mrkić said that he has been in constant communication with Fule and other senior officials as of recently.

Minister Mrkić explained earlier that under the SEECP founding document, only member-states of the process can take part in its summits.

“By the nature of things, even if it was a country, Kosovo is not a member. A question may be raised if someone who is considered by some to be a country, and by others not to be a country, can take part. According to the founding document, they have no access there,” he said.