Today Dragutin Mate, Slovenian Minister of the Interior and President of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, visited Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to join Franco Frattini, Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, who announced the beginning of a dialogue on visa liberalisation between the European Commission and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Visa Facilitation Agreement between the EU and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia entered into force on 1 January 2008.
Minister Mate and Vice-President Frattini, together with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, officially opened the National Visa Centre. On this occasion Minister Mate emphasised:
“The Slovenian Presidency welcomes the beginning of a dialogue on visa liberalisation between the European Commission and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. I believe that the beginning of a dialogue will contribute to the strengthening of mutual trust between both sides, while at the same time giving a clear signal to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia that drawing closer to the EU is the right way to go. It is very important that we enter into such a dialogue with other countries in the region as well, as this will contribute to the faster approach of Western Balkan countries to the EU.”
Minister Mate met today with Minister of the Interior of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Gordana Jankulovska. They discussed the initiative to draw up an Organised Crime Threat Assessment for the Western Balkan countries (SEE OCTA), as well as implementation of the Police Cooperation Convention for South Eastern Europe, reform of the SECI Centre, cooperation between the police academies of the Western Balkan countries, and possible coordination of various programmes and activities in the region. Further, they agreed upon a bilateral meeting of directors general of the Slovenian Police and the Police of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia this March.
On Thursday morning, Minister Mate will continue discussions in Skopje with Minister Jankulovska on future EU support for police reforms and expectations regarding the implementation of the act on police, after which he will visit Montenegro.
