The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today sent a congratulation message to the newly elected President of the Republic of Kosovo, Bedhjet Paccolli.


President Ivanov, wishing success in the execution of the responsible function, good health and personal happiness to President Pacolli, conveyed most sincere congratulations on the occasion of his election to the office of President of the Republic of Kosovo.


I am confident that in the period to come, with joint efforts, we will foster and strengthen the relations of friendship between the two countries and thus we will contribute to deepening and intensification of the cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Kosovo in all spheres of common interest, at both bilateral and multilateral level. To this end, we will also provide our contribution to the vision that we all share for stable and prosperous region with Euro-Atlantic future, is written in the message sent by President Ivanov to President Pacolli.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov today attended the opening ceremony of the People’s Office in Tetovo. This is the second office within the project “People’s Offices of the President of the Republic of Macedonia”. The primary goal is the President of the Republic of Macedonia through these offices to have constant and duly determined dynamics of meetings with the citizens and to be in constant contact with the problems faced by them in order to take initiatives for their settlement.

President Ivanov, at the opening ceremony, said to the citizens in Tetovo that all complaints, requests and ideas will be reviewed by the Cabinet and afterwards will be submitted to the competent institutions and then replies will be sent to the citizens. Thus, we enable the political system to function for the citizens and they have a place to address the problems they are faced with and believe that their voice is heard by the President, that the President is aware of their demands, complaints or initiatives, President Ivanov said at the opening of the People’s Office in Tetovo



Volunteers will work in the People’s Office in Tetovo who will rotate at every few months, thus many young and educated people can gain experience from the contacts with the citizens. The address of the People’s Office in Tetovo is:  “Boris Kidric” Street no. 54-1.

The two-day visit of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, to the Republic of Slovenia began with the highest honors at the ceremonial reception. Macedonia and Slovenia have been nourishing friendly relations, with a high level of understanding and trust. However, the two countries should work on boosting the economic cooperation, Presidents Gjorge Ivanov and Danilo Turk assessed after their meeting at Brdo near Kranj.

The two presidents discussed issues related to European initiatives, especially for Macedonia to join the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, as well as the possibility the Adriatic highway to link with corridors 8 and 10.

The Macedonian side also urged Slovenian experiences to be applied in using the EU pre-accession funds.

At the meeting, the two Presidents addressed the Macedonian-Greek name dispute, when the Macedonian side asked support for the matter to get the same treatment as the Slovenian-Croatian one, namely advancement of the country's EU-integration process regardless of the pace of the dispute settlement.
In this regard, the Slovenian President Turk saluted the more frequent meetings between the Macedonian and the Greek Prime Ministers, but at the same time he stated that it would be beneficial for the name dispute to be settled before the ruling of The Hague-based International Court of Justice on Macedonia's motion against Greece.

According to President Turk, Macedonia's accession to the European Union and NATO is in favor of everybody, as the country is a significant factor of the Balkans' and Europe's stability.

President Ivanov emphasized that swift settlement of the name issue is crucial for Macedonia's EU-integration process.

- The assessment is objective that Macedonia has been implementing the reforms successfully; still the country’s EU-integration process is impeded. Therefore we need a solution now, not tomorrow. We seek for a mutually acceptable solution in line with the international law and principles," Ivanov said.
In the presence of both Presidents, a Protocol for cooperation in the sphere of education was signed, which is to enable scholarships for Macedonian students at Slovenian universities and vice versa. At the first day of the official visit President Ivanov also had talks with Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Deputy Speaker Miran Potrc and Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic.
This two-day official visit of President Ivanov coincides with the marking of the 20th anniversary of the independence of the two countries.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply, Ljupco Dimovski, and officials of the diplomatic corps to Macedonia, attended the traditional vineyard pruning ceremony in “Pirava” – vine plantation in Valandovo honoring St. Trifun, the patron saint of wine and winemaking. After the solemn ceremony and the symbolic pruning of the branches, President Ivanov conveyed his wishes for a successful harvest and sweet grapes.

- It is in the spirit of our tradition that today wine trees are pruned. I wish quality and bountiful year to wine growers and winemakers, President Ivanov said.

- Today I am at a plantation in this valley where my birthplace is. As a student and as a high school boy, I very often attended such manifestations. I am glad to have the opportunity to see people I know, with whom I have spent my childhood, President Ivanov said.

The delegation led by President Ivanov, among whom were the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, the Ambassador of the French Republic, the UK Ambassador, the Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary and the Charge d’Affairs from the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia visited the wine cellar “Vizba” and were introduced with the latest production achievements of the largest wine cellar in the south of Macedonia.
The Manager of the wine cellar “Vizba-Valandovo”, Vita Huzjan and the team of oenologists presented the products among which is "Alexander" – six-time winner of gold medals at fairs and second ranked in the world wine selection.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, is paying a two-day official visit to the Czech Republic, upon an invitation of the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus.

President Ivanov had a meeting with President Klaus and discussed the relations between the two countries, assessing them as good, without any open issue, but with a potential for further deepening, particularly in the sphere of economy. It is not enough only to nurture friendship at the level of presidents and governments, but friendship should be boosted in many spheres, especially in the economic sphere, President Klaus said after the meeting. President Ivanov said that an Agreement for cooperation in the sphere of education and science was signed, which will be useful for young generation of both countries, expected to further enhance mutual friendship.


The Czech Republic supports the integration of Macedonia in the European Union. We are sorry that the European integration has been hindered by other party, which is not good. We consider that it is unworthy such important issues to be blocked due to the name dispute by Greece. The name of the state, as it is and as the state has defined it, should be respected, said the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus adding that the European Union, with its role today, should not just sit and observe silently while Greece blocks Macedonia’s EU integration. President Klaus underlined that it is EU obligation to try to find certain solution which would be wise and acceptable.



President Ivanov agreed with President Klaus that accelerated settlement of the two-decade long dispute that Greece has with our name is necessary, and considers that EU could apply the model for resolving Croatian – Slovenian bilateral dispute and not to have double standards for different countries. In context to the name dispute and UN led process, President Ivanov, before tomorrow’s meeting of the UN Mediator Matthew Nimetz with the Greek and Macedonian representatives, expressed expectation that it should be constructive. Macedonia in the UN-led process has always been constructive and has approached all proposals and suggestions in such a manner, and particularly appriciates Mediator’s opinion. The Macedonian representative will present tomorrow the official positions. We really expect that this two-decade long dispute will be resolved because it is the reason why we are blocked for NATO and EU membership, President Ivanov said.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov today organized a meeting which was attended by the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Trajko Veljanoski, and the leaders of the political parties represented in the Assemby of the Republic of Macedonia.

Reason for summoning this meeting was to initiate open talks on current political situation in the country, with a special focus on the functioning of the democratic institutions.

President Ivanov assessed as positive the presence of the leaders at the meeting. Naturally all of us cannot have same views, same positions concerning the topics of today's agenda. It shows that in a democratic society everybody represents own positions, bearing at the same time responsibility  for its stands and actions, President Ivanov said after the meeting. The President assessed as positive that these issues were tackled and that there was an open debate. He also said that only through an open dialogue solutions can be found. The aim was, though an open dialogue between all relevant political parties, to come to a solution that will enable all institutions to work with full capacity, President Ivanov said.

The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Trajko Veljanoski, after the meeting said that he expressed his readiness for all issues to be a subject of Parliament's debate and appealed the MPs to return to the Assembly. I called upon all political leaders to contribute to MPs' returning to the Parliament, to discuss all issues within the competences of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia.  I must not and do not want to allow the Assembly to be held hostage by the work of any other power, such as the judiciary, said Veljanovski. The President of the Assembly accepted President Ivanov’s recommendation, through institutional talks within one month to detect problems within the competence of the Assembly. At the same time he urged the MPs to return to the Parliament for the institution to resume its regular work, because we owe this to the citizens, said Veljanoski and added that the institutional problem solving will send a strong message both to the citizens and to the international community.


The President of VMRO-DPMNE and of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, after the meeting stressed that the opposition is against early elections. We have been told that they do not wish to discuss about elections if the Government rejects the prerequisite, to interfere in the work of judiciary and public prosecution. Even if elections were scheduled, the opposition would boycott the process, said Gruevski. The leader of VMRO-DPMNE said that the opposition considers legal the Government to influence the judiciary for the public prosecutor to revoke all his motions filed to the court, and that as long as this is not the case, they would boycott elections. This is yet another argument that ongoing developments are not aimed to provoke early elections but a result of concern over a possibility for the ruling parties to initiate such process. They said if the demand for interfering with the judiciary was not met and if elections were scheduled under any circumstances, they would boycott the process, which means they will once again cause damage to the country, Gruevski said. We expect the opposition to restore normal working attitude, and thus stop causing damage to all citizens. Such attitude is to the detriment of the whole country, the Euro-Atlantic integrations, the reports, as well as the image of the Republic of Macedonia, Gruevski said, adding that the only responsible move at this point would be to accept the initiative of the state, which was adopted by the President of the Assembly and start discussing all matters in a normal manner. 

The leader of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, said that the leaders’ meeting was unsuccessful. It is positive that this meeting was held, but negative is that it ended without outcome, said Crvenkovski and announced that if their precondition and known conditions are not met, they will not return to the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia. According to the leader of SDSM, the discussion during the meeting was focused on the issue that the executive power cannot and does not want to interfere in the functioning of the independent judiciary. The whole process, revealing of the crime, if there is crime in the companies registered at “Pero Nakov” set off with a political decision of the Prime Minister. That is why he made the political decision and interfered with the independence of the judiciary, he is now responsible to fix the situation. It was clearly announced and reiterated that it is a prerequisite to discuss other issues and for our eventual return to the Assembly, said Crvenkovski. SDSM leader dismissed as false the information that SDSM does not want early parliamentary elections. However, for this to happen amendments in the Electoral Code are necessary, purging of the voter list, as well as a constitutional amendment preventing the Minister of Justice to be a member of the Judicial Council and the Prosecutorial Council. As dysfunctional, Crvenkovski assessed President Ivanov’s proposal of establishing parliamentary commission tasked within a month to review all findings and report the results to the Assembly.

The President of the Liberal Democratic Party, Jovan Manasijevski said after the meeting that he called for early elections immediately, but he has not seen a mood for this neither in the position nor in the opposition. LDP leader assessed that the meeting was totally unsuccessful and there were no shifts by the ruling party and the opposition.

The leader of New Democracy, Imer Selmani, said that the government had no sense for a debate and that a solution is necessary for the disputable issues. Topics to be discussed, according to him, are the census, the church under construction and the requirements related to the Constitution.

The meeting held in the Office of the President of the Republic of Macedonia was attended by all invited participants, except the President of DPA, Thaci.