Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Fatmir Besimi PhD, today, February 1st, paid a one-day working visit to Turkey, where he held a meeting with the Minister for European Affairs and Chief Negotiator for Turkey's membership in the EU, Mr. Volkan Bozkir.

Deputy Prime Minister Besimi emphasised the excellent friendly bilateral relations between Macedonia and Turkey and expressed interest in further deepening cooperation on issues of mutual interest.

Besimi stressed that Macedonia is making continuous efforts on implementing the recommendations arising from the latest European Commission report on Macedonia and the urgent reform priorities and creating a favourable political climate for the implementation of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The focus of discussion was the current migrant crisis and coordination of the activities of the line of the Western Balkans route. Besimi emphasised that Macedonia as a transit country, treats the migrants/refugees humanely practising all international legal obligations and is open to cooperation and coordinated approach.

The interlocutors agreed that Turkey has a key role in the current migrant crisis and undoubtedly is a bridge between this global problem and possible solutions. The coordination of the activities with the European Union about this crisis, should soon show concrete results.

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Besimi underlined that Turkey is one of our closest partners and supporters in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration.

Both sides agreed on the concrete implementation of the existing cooperation protocol in the field of European integration, including the use of EU funds through the IPA and exchange of experiences on the system implementation.