MACEDONIAN Diplomatic Bulletin
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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA o. 126/2018 N DB M MACEDONIAN DIPLOMATIC BULLETIN HELLENIC REPUBLIC FOREIGN MINISTER NIKOS KOTZIAS PAYS OffICIAL VISIT TO REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA paGE 4 IN FOCUS dipLomaTic newS WESTERN BALKan LeadeRS MeeT WITH RepUBLic OF Macedonia and BOSnia and EC PRESidenT JUncKER in SoFia HeRZEGovina SiGN MUTUAL TRaveL AGReemenT paGE 3 CRoaTian DepUTY PRime MiniSTER and FoReiGN MiniSTER 2018 BURIć PAYS OFFiciaL VISIT TO RepUBLic OF Macedonia paGE 5 aRCH M SKopje AQUedUCT paGE 2 paGE 16 DIPLOMATIC NEWS MDB FOREIGN MINISTERS OF REPUBLIC OF Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin was founded in October 2006 by the Ministry of MACEDONIA AND HELLENIC REPUBLIC Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia. DIMITROV AND KOTZIAS MEET WITH MEDIATOR NIMETZ IN VIENNA n 30 March, in Vienna, the Republic of Austria, a meeting was held between Matthew Nimetz, the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, and the Ministers of Foreign Filip II Makedonski 7, 1000 Skopje O Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia and the Hellenic Republic, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Republic of Macedonia Kotzias, about finding a mutually acceptable solution to overcome the name difference. www.mfa.gov.mk [email protected] Editor: Vladimir Efremovski Editorial Board: Zuko Rizvanski, Shaban Jashari, Sejfullah Shaqiri and Viktorija Trajkov Adviser: Sasko Todorovski WESTERN BaLkaN LEADERS MEET WITH Photo: EC PRESIDENT JUNCKER IN SOFIA Oliver Acev he Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, attended the working Tmeeting of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, whose country holds the presidency of the EU, with the Western Published monthly by: Balkan heads of state and government in Sofia, the Republic of Bulgaria, on 1 March. The Macedonian Information Centre meeting centered on the possibilities for accelerating the process of integration of the Western Balkans into the EU and on improving interconnectivity. Director: Dragan Antonov The Prime Ministers of the Republic of Albania and Montenegro, Edi Rama and Duško Marković, the Presidents of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo, Aleksandar Chief Translator: Aleksandra Ilievska Vučić and Hashim Thaçi, the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dra- gan Čović, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, also attended the meeting. Prime Minister Zaev addressed reporters afterward. Naum Naumovski Borce 73, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia www.micnews.com.mk The articles published in Macedonian Diplomatic Bulletin do not necessarily represent the views of the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Macedonian Information Centre. © 2018 No. 126 March 2018 2 MACEDONIAN DIPLOMATIC BULLETIN No. 126 – 2018 DIPLOMATIC NEWS REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SIGN MUTUAL TRAVEL AGREEMENT delegation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina security and a higher standard of living. Our countries, he said, are A paid a one-day official visit to the Republic of Macedonia on 12 committed to making things better in the fields of transport, energy March. Within the framework of the visit, a meeting was held be- and digitization. tween the government delegations of the Republic of Macedonia and The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina led by Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Nikola Dimitrov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Zaev and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor Crnadak, signed the Agreement between the Gov- Herzegovina, Denis Zvizdić. ernment of the Republic of Macedonia and the Council of Ministers “The future of the Republic of Macedonia is in the EU. That is of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the conditions for travel by nationals also the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. Today’s of the two countries. With the signing of this Agreement, the citizens joint steps of the government officials of the Republic of Macedonia of the Republic of Macedonia are allowed to travel to Bosnia and and Bosnia and Herzegovina confirm that we are decidedly moving Herzegovina and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to travel in the right direction,” Macedonian Prime Minister Zaev said at to the Republic of Macedonia only with ID cards. the press conference. “Both countries see opportunities for closer The Minister of Education of the Republic of Macedonia, Renata cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, food, wood, metal Deskoska, and the Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, processing and construction as well as in the sectors of defense and Adil Osmanović, signed a Protocol between the Ministry of Educa- police in order to deepen cooperation in the fight against terrorism tion and Science of the Republic of Macedonia and the Ministry of and violent extremism,” Zaev added. Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the field of education. Chairman Zvizdić said he was content with the visit and the friendly Chairman Zvizdić was also received by the President of the Re- reception, adding that the states did not have any open bilateral issues public of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov. and rather shared the same basic goals of European integration, peace, PRIME MINISTER ZaEV MEETS WITH US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS MITCHELL n 13 March, Zoran Zaev, Macedonia’s Prime Minister, received Othe US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Wess Mitchell. The firm determination of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to remain committed to building a partnership with the United States of America as a strategic ally and great supporter of the Republic of Macedonia since its independence was confirmed at the meeting. After the meeting, Prime Minister Zaev and Secretary Mitchell held a joint press conference reaffirming their commitment to fur- thering cooperation with a view to achieving progress in Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration. No. 126 – 2018 MACEDONIAN DIPLOMATIC BULLETIN 3 DIPLOMATIC NEWS HELLENIC REPUBLIC FOREIGN MINISTER NIKOS KOTZIAS PaYS OFFICIAL VISIT TO REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA t the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic the confidence building measures. After the meeting the ministers Aof Macedonia, Nikola Dimitrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs held a joint press conference. of the Hellenic Republic, Nikos Kotzias, paid an official visit to the During his stay in the Republic of Macedonia, Minister Kotzias Republic of Macedonia on 22 and 23 March. His visit was part of the was also received by the Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of continuous dialogue between the two foreign ministers, which seeks Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Deputy to promote relations between the two countries. Prime Minister for European Affairs Bujar Osmani. The Greek foreign Talks between Dimitrov and Kotzias were in the context of the policy chief also met with the leaders of BDI and VMRO-DPMNE, efforts to overcome the name difference as well as other bilateral is- Ali Ahmeti and Hristijan Mickoski. sues of mutual interest, with an emphasis on the implementation of AUSTRIAN FEDERAL MINISTER FOR EUROPE, INTEGRATION AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS KNEISSL PaYS WORKING VISIT TO REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA n 27 March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of OMacedonia, Nikola Dimitrov, met with the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, Karin Kneissl, during her working visit to the Republic of Macedonia. Ministers Dimitrov and Kneissl confirmed at the meeting the excel- lent bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Austria, laying stress on Austria’s active support for Macedonia’s European integration and the launching of accession negotiations with the EU as soon as possible. They highlighted the possibilities for further advancement of cooperation in several areas of mutual interest. Minister Dimitrov told his Austrian counterpart about the priority reforms of the Government and the activities taken to improve and deepen the good-neighborly relations in order to close the unresolved issues with neighbors for the purpose of achieving the main strategic goals of the Republic of Macedonia. Minister Kneissl reiterated the vocal support of the Republic of Austria for the accession of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union and voiced hope that the Republic of Macedonia would open negotiations with the Union by the time of its Summit The Austrian foreign policy chief was also received by Macedonian in June this year. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. 4 MACEDONIAN DIPLOMATIC BULLETIN No. 126 – 2018 DIPLOMATIC NEWS CRoaTian DepUTY PRime MiniSTER and FoReiGN MiniSTER BURIć PAYS OFFiciaL VISIT TO RepUBLic OF Macedonia t the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ARepublic of Macedonia, Nikola Dimitrov, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Marija Pejčinović Burić, paid an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia on 13 March. Minister Dimitrov thanked her for the consistent support that the Republic of Macedonia received from the Republic of Croatia for full membership of the EU and NATO. Minister Burić reaffirmed the strong support of the Republic of Croatia and voiced hope that the Republic of Macedonia would soon open negotiations for EU membership and become a full member of NATO. The two officials agreed that the excellent cooperation in various areas between the two friendly countries would continue and that efforts would be made to promote economic cooperation with a possibility of Macedonian and Croatian companies capturing third markets together. The guest from the Republic of Croatia was also received by The process of accession of the Republic of Macedonia to the Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, Speaker of Parliament Adriatic-Ionian Initiative was also discussed at the meeting.