The Formal Meeting of the SEECP (South-East European Cooperation Process) Ministers of Foreign Affairs, taking place in Ohrid, advocated more intensive cooperation among the countries in the region.

The meeting addressed possibilities for bolstering the cooperation and more efficent absorption of EU funds for inter-connection of the SEECP participating countries, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki, as the event's host in a capacity of SEECP Chair, told a press conference.

"In this respect I would like to point out that Macedonia was successfully chair of more than 30 ministerial and expert meetings, which would have been impossible without the cooperation with the former and next holders of the SEECP Chairmanship," Poposki said.

Radu Podgorean, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the next holder of SEECP Chairmanship - Romania, said today's meeting was a step forward to the EU-integration of Western Balkan, something that enjoys his country's strong support.

"We remain strong supporter of the EU's open door policy for those countries which are ready to meet the Copenhagen Criteria. The regional cooperation corresponds with the Euro-Atlantic integration. It is an instrument that facilitates the dialogue and joint projects for dialing with common challenges. This is going to be one of the top priorities of our (SEECP) Chairmanship," Podgorean said.

Candidate and potential candidate countries attended today's meting, which is a kind of exercise for the upcoming challenges, said Ivan Mrkic, the FM of former SEECP Chair-Serbia.

He expressed hope for all of the countries moving towards the EU membership to turn their aspirations into reality sooner or latter.

Mrkic also expressed belief that all differences hindering the regional cooperation would be ironed by the next meeting.