The first informal ministerial meeting under North Macedonia’s Chairpersonship of the US-Adriatic Charter was held on 28 March in Skopje, chaired by Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.
The discussions focused on the opportunities for strengthening the political role of the Charter in the context of the current regional developments and security challenges, while Osmani presented the ambitious goal of launching a process for creating a new A5 Strategic Concept, as well as the other priorities of the Chairpersonship.
“After two decades of existence, the geopolitical circumstances in the region and beyond have changed significantly, especially following Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine. Furthermore, A5 has to a great extent fulfilled the initial goal for which it was established. Today, all three founding countries, plus Montenegro, which joined the Charter at a later stage, are NATO members. Therefore, our goal is to adapt the A5 to the current developments and strengthen its political role for the purpose of more easily dealing with the contemporary security and regional challenges,” said Chairperson Osmani.
At the same time, Osmani underlined that the priorities of the A5 Chairpersonship include the commitments to strengthening the coordination among the Charter countries that are NATO members, increased engagement and involvement of the Charter countries that are members of the Alliance, as well as expanding regional cooperation on topical issues, such as addressing hybrid and cyber threats, strategic communications etc.
The meeting concluded by adopting a Joint Statement with two important messages: support for A5’s open door policy, with the willingness to address as soon as possible Kosovo’s official request for membership in the Charter; condemnation of Russia’s military aggression and support for Ukraine.
The US-Adriatic Charter is the most important initiative for promoting the Euro-Atlantic values in the region. In addition to North Macedonia, the Initiative also includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro, while Kosovo, Serbia and Slovenia have a status of observers. As a strategic partner and basis, the A5 also includes the USA, which lends a special political substance to this Initiative.
You find the Joint Statement HERE
