Participants of the RCC Annual Meeting endorse nomination of the next RCC Secretary General for the term 2025-2027

Skopje – The participants of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), held in Skopje today, endorsed the RCC Annual Report 2023-2024. The meeting, co-chaired by the RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu and Bujar Osmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, on behalf of the Chair of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), discussed developments in regional cooperation in South East Europe (SEE) within the RCC framework, as well as challenges ahead of the organisation.

"When I assumed the role of Secretary General of the RCC in January 2019, I was prepared for a challenging yet inspiring professional journey. However, I did not anticipate the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This era-defining crisis reshaped global health, security, and economies, demanding innovative responses beyond our usual remit. I am honoured to have served as Secretary General of the RCC during these extraordinary times and to have witnessed the solidarity within our region and between our region and the EU. These challenges have demonstrated that even in the most difficult times, cooperation and resilience are possible. From the very beginning, we have been guided by the principle that cooperation is our strongest asset in a rapidly changing world. Nearly six years into my tenure, this principle remains as vital as ever," said RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu. 

"Our mission over the past six years has been clear: to not only adapt to change, but to lead it. Together, we seized opportunities and met citizens’ expectations by achieving: roaming free region; reduced roaming prices between our region and EU; opening of green lanes during the pandemic for food and medicine and extending them for all goods and services in the past period; preparation and endorsement of the Common Regional Market Action Plan that yielded many results including 4 mobility agreements, but also the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and the first common strategic framework at the SEECP level, such as the SEE 2030 Strategy. To boost our youth entrepreneurship we launched digital competition Balkathon, Regional Innovation Award, and led the implementation of Youth Lab Project. This is just to mention the biggest milestones of RCC and regional cooperation when results are many," added Bregu. 

"However, we must acknowledge the challenges that lie ahead. Our strategy moving forward must include comprehensive measures to improve local and regional economic conditions, enhance infrastructure, and leverage other instruments to provide new opportunities for stabilising and revitalising our economies," concluded Secretary General Bregu. 

The Annual Meeting was co-organised by the RCC Secretariat and SEECP Chairpersonship-in-Office of North Macedonia. It is held back-to-back with the SEECP Meeting of Foreign Ministers and the SEECP Summit.

While presenting the activities of North Macedonia Chairmanship of SEECP and announcing the upcoming high-level SEECP events, Minister Osmani congratulated the RCC on the great results it achieved so far and thanked Secretary General Bregu for the outstanding role she played heading the organisation for almost 6 years. "Regional cooperation is, and will remain high among Skopje’s foreign policy priorities long after our 2023 – 2024 SEECP CiO. Our participation in different regional initiatives, and the fact that we are chairing for the third time, one of the oldest ones, shows our dedication in that regard. We are continuously investing great efforts in building good neighborly relations based on mutual friendship and trust while contributing to the stability and prosperity of our region in the long run.", said Osmani.

The European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi thanked the RCC and its Secretary General on the results in implementing the Common Regional Market Action Plan, which is a heart of the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. He stressed that the RCC was instrumental in this process and added that the European Commission will provide full support to regional economic integration, reiterating the pleasure of continued cooperation with the RCC.

The meeting participants heard the presentation of the implementation of SEE2030 Strategy and endorsed the nomination of Amer Kapetanovic as the next RCC Secretary General for the term 2025-2027. The meeting of the SEECP Ministers of Foreign Affairs, set to be held in Skopje tomorrow, is expected to appoint the new RCC Secretary General for the period 2025-2027.

The Annual Meeting participants thanked the incumbent RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu for her indispensable contribution to serving regional cooperation in South East Europe over the past almost six years of her tenure as the RCC Secretary General.

The RCC Secretary General Bregu also thanked the North Macedonia SEECP Chair and all the RCC participants for their support and contribution to enhancing regional cooperation in SEE through the RCC over the past almost six years.