President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski(L) and visiting President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic review the honor guards in Skopje, North Macedonia, Oct. 2, 2019. (Photo by Darko Duridanski/Xinhua)
SKOPJE, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said here on Wednesday that this month the European Union (EU) should decide to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia.
At a joint press conference after his meeting with President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, Djukanovic said it is realistic to expect full support from the international community both for North Macedonia's opening accession negotiations with the EU and for its NATO membership.
"It's important to step up and support North Macedonia on this journey. It is a journey that has no alternative when it comes to stability in the region, prosperity of economy and democracy," Djukanovic said.
Djukanovic also said that the integration of North Macedonia in NATO is of importance for the country's internal security as well as for regional stability.
"We're already considering Macedonia as part of NATO, but formalities must be completed.... There should be no faltering in regard to the start of EU accession negotiations as well. We think it's time for new dynamics in the enlargement process," Djukanovic added.
North Macedonia is expecting to become the 30th NATO member in December the earliest and is waiting for opening accession negotiations with the EU since 2005 when the country was granted candidate status for EU membership.
For his part, Pendarovski said that both countries share same democratic values and that bilateral relations are on a very high level.
"Relations between Skopje and Podgorica are developing in the spirit of the best cooperation. Montenegro was among the first countries to ratify NATO's protocol. The two countries maintain good relations and share mutual foreign policy priorities," Pendarovski said.
Djukanovic is on a two-day official visit to North Macedonia.
