North Macedonia‘s President Stevo Pendarovski has signaled additional army cooperation with Türkiye within the coming interval, saying “the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine is only making the whole matter more urgent.”
Military cooperation between the 2 nations began a few years in the past and plenty of high-ranking troopers within the North Macedonian military had been skilled at Turkish army colleges, Stevo Pendarovski advised Anadolu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum‘s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
Asked whether or not the acquisition of army drones from Türkiye is on Skopje’s agenda, Pendarovski mentioned within the final one-and-a-half years, North Macedonia made new preparations for buying some army tools and weapons from Türkiye.
“But of course, that is a sensitive matter, and I would not like to discuss in detail all of that publicly,” he underscored.
The president described bilateral relations as glorious, saying Türkiye was one of many staunchest supporters of North Macedonia’s independence in early Nineteen Nineties and in the mean time, financial cooperation is slowly build up 12 months by 12 months.
OSCE PRESIDENCY ‘GREAT CHALLENGE’ FOR NORTH MACEDONIA
On Jan. 1, North Macedonia assumed the rotating 2023 presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Pendarovski mentioned the time period presidency can be “a great challenge” for them as they’re a small nation with restricted assets.
“We have taken the lead of an organization with 57 member countries, spanning from the US and Canada, including Russia, Central Asia, so it’s not an easy task, but we are prepared well for that task. We started from the first of January and will chair that organization for the whole year.”
He mentioned North Macedonia is finishing up its efforts for alleviating the battle in Ukraine.
“We are in contact with both sides. I recently dispatched a Macedonian ambassador to Moscow in order to hear the other side, despite it being beyond doubt that the Russian invasion is completely illegal and it is not allowed by any international rule or principle.”
Pendarovski additionally mentioned they’ve been making an attempt their finest to unravel the issue from the very starting.
Bujar Osmani, North Macedonia’s overseas minister and OSCE time period chairman, visited Ukraine a few days in the past and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy whereas North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski will even maintain talks in Ukraine subsequent month.
TÜRKİYE HAS ‘LEGITIMATE SECURITY CONCERNS,’ SAYS PENDAROVSKI
On a query whether or not North Macedonia helps Türkiye’s considerations over NATO membership bids of Sweden and Finland, Pendarovski mentioned Ankara has “some legitimate security concerns” which must be addressed.
“I am not saying that it should happen this time as well. But I’m quite confident that with the help of third countries, with NATO’s secretary general, with our friends, that Finland and Sweden will as soon as possible complete the ratification process, including in the Turkish parliament, because there is no doubt that we do need as an alliance, we do need these two countries, which are democratic countries with a long tradition, and they can only help all of us in this situation with the war on the continent after so many decades,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is exerting nice diplomatic efforts to finish the Russia-Ukraine struggle, Pendarovski mentioned. “President Erdoğan is probably the only politician in the world who communicates with both Russia and Ukraine about the crisis,” he added.
SERBIA-KOSOVO CONFLICT
About latest tensions between Serbia and Kosovo over border, Pendarovski mentioned he doesn’t imagine that the battle between the 2 nations will flip right into a struggle within the Balkans.
“I do not believe that kind of development will unfold in the Western Balkans. It’s important for the security of our people. Of course, the situation in Kosovo is completely under control,” he mentioned.
According to Pendarovski, a very powerful concern in Kosovo is the human rights, stability, and safety for all individuals residing there.
Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has not acknowledged the transfer and sees its former province as a part of its territory.
Tensions have been simmering between the 2 Balkan nations after a collection of occasions within the area.
In November 2022, there was a row about license plates, with the federal government in Pristina demanding ethnic Serbs give up Serbian-issued car license plates to exchange them with plates issued by Kosovo.
Earlier this month, a Serbian boy and a younger man had been shot and wounded in southern Kosovo by Albanian extremists on Orthodox Christmas Eve.
