Macedonia, Kosovo to sign bilateral deal on social security

Prishtina/Skopje, 30 July 2009 – Macedonia and Kosovo are considering the possibility to sign bilateral agreement on social security.

Expert groups from Macedonia and Kosovo meet in Skopje today to discuss issues related to social insurance.

“I hope that after establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, the agreement will be ready for signing,” Macedonia’s Labor and Social Welfare Minister Xhelal Bajrami said.

He did not specify the number of Macedonian citizens currently working in Kosovo, and how many Kosovo’s citizens are working in Macedonia.

“It is fact that Macedonia and Kosovo came from a former state, and at that time, a number of Kosovars worked in Macedonia and a number of Macedonians worked in Kosovo. Their status regarding retirement is still not solved. This is the reason for signing such an agreement,” Bajrami said.

The two countries underlined the need to regulate issues related to social insurance and to ensure that workers be entitled to pension and disability insurance, health insurance, and other rights on grounds of temporary unemployment. /makfax/