In the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today, a ceremonial change of the national flag was held.

The ceremony was attended by third grade pupils from the primary school "Gjorgjija Puleski" and fifth grade students from the primary school "Koco Racin" from Skopje.

The change of the national flag of the Republic of Macedonia in the Cabinet of the President was performed by the Guard Unit of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia.

The ceremony of changing the national flag aims at raising the sense and respect for the flag of the Republic of Macedonia, as a sign and symbol of the statehood of our country.

Colonel Azim Nouredin, by a decree of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. gjorge Ivanov, is the newly appointed Adjutant to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Macedonia.

Colonel Nouredin started his military education in the Military High School in Belgrade, after completing primary school, and graduated at the Military Academy in Skopje. He graduated from the Command Staff Academy "General Mihajlo Apostolski" - Skopje and completed advanced defense studies in the School of National Defense in the Republic of Turkey. During his military career, he performed numerous duties as platoon and company commander, commander of watchtower and commander of battalion and garrison, as well as numerous staff duties in the special and mechanized infantry units in several garrisons and units of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia. In his military career so far he has completed numerous trainings and participated in military exercises in the Republic of Macedonia and abroad. In 2014 he took part in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, where he was awarded with NATO medal for participation in peacekeeping missions. He is fluent in Turkish and English.

The previous Adjutant to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Macedonia, Brigadier General Vasko Gjurcinovski remains at the position commander of the regiment for special operations of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia.

The handover ceremony of the duty Adjutant to the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Macedonia was held today during the ceremony of changing the state flag in the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Macedonia.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, received today 15 interns from several European Union member-states, within the regular program of the EU institutions in Brussels, which is a confirmation of the openness and accessibility of the EU institutions for the youth. The interns expressed gratitude to President Ivanov for the opportunity to see closely how the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Macedonia is functioning.

Today, in the Army Hall, the Chief of General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Gorancho Koteski,
reported to the President of the Republic of Macedonia and Supreme Commander of the armed forces, H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov on the combat readiness of the Army for 2014.

In attandance for the report were also the Minister of Defense Zoran Jolevski, the President of the Defense and Security Committee in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia Emil Dimitriev, high officials from the Ministry of Defense and the Army as well as commanders of subordinate commands and units in the Army of the Republic of Macedonia.

President Ivanov was informed about the realization of plans and tasks in 2014 in accordance with the functional fields of the Army.

"On the basis of the performed comprehensive annual analysis by the General Staff, it was concluded that in this past year, the Army, in spite of objective difficulties an limitations, was a model institution in terms of execution of duties, both in the country and abroad. The Army was successful in the performance of its mission and tasks, whereby our combat readiness was at the necessary level", stated the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Gorancho Koteski.

He added that all the key tasks and projects that marked this last year were successfully accomplished, naming among others: the successful realization of international missions outside of Macedonia, focusing on the finalization of the ISAF mission and the beginning of the "Decisive Support" in Afghanistan; transformation of the Army in accordance with the dynamic plan; assistance to institutions in cases of natural disasters and rescue missions; adopting a number of regulations and guidelines for efficient performance of complex tasks and reinforced regional and international military cooperation.

The Chief of General Staff also provided an insight in the process of modernization of the Army in line with the Long-term Plan for Modernization of Defense adopted by the Government, as well as in the implementation of the concept of reserve as a key factor in the transformation of the Army - a process started in 2012 and expected to finish this year.
President Ivanov congratulated the members of the Army for their selfless engagement in the strengthening of one of the institutions enjoying the highest level of trust in the country. He underlined that the Army can serve as an example, having proven its readiness by meeting NATO criteria and being successful in international missions, as well as assisting in times of natural disasters.

The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia Zoran Jolevski stated that in 2015, the Army will be given maximum support in raising its combat readiness. The Ministry, he said, will continue supporting the Army in the successful performance of its function.

The main priorities and measures to contribute in 2015 to the further strengthening and raising the degree of combat readiness of Army members will be the regular staffing of the Army, adaptation of trainings to the current security challenges and NATO requirements, continuation of participation in peace-keeping missions, realization of the project "ARM – my true home" and further improvement of the degree of training.

The President of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov participated at the 51st Munich Security Conference that took place from February 6 to 8 in Munich, Federal Republic of Germany, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Mr. Nikola Poposki.

The focus of this year's Conference was on: The World in 2015, fight against terrorism, unresolved conflicts in Europe and especially Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, refugee crises etc.
During his third participation in the Munich Security Conference,

President Ivanov had a series of formal and informal meetings with some of the participants at this gathering.

At the meeting with President Aliyev, the Presidents discussed possibilities for further strengthening of bilateral relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as boosting economic cooperation.

In the year marking the 20th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two Presidents expressed their satisfaction with the positive trend in the bilateral relations characterized by friendship, mutual understanding and interest in their further expansion and deepening.

President Ivanov underlined the need for promoting and intensifying economic cooperation and strengthening trade exchange between the two countries through specific economic projects, adding that Azerbaijani investments are welcome in the Republic of Macedonia. In this context, the Macedonian President informed President Aliyev about the favorable investment climate in our country, as well as about the situation in Macedonian economy.

President Aliyev, agreeing with the need to further intensify political dialogue, expressed his pleasure to be able to host the forthcoming official visit by President Ivanov to Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan is ready to strengthen the cooperation with the Republic of Macedonia in all spheres of joint interest, and I am glad to accept the invitation to pay an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia", stated President Aliyev during the meeting.

The Azerbaijani President informed President Ivanov about the energy and gas pipeline projects which are in phase of realization and are planned for the Caspian Region. An intensification of contacts was agreed in this area as well.

The Presidents also discussed further cooperation at the multilateral level, and exchanged information on the recent developments in the Southeast Europe and Caspian region.

At his meeting with the OSCE Secretary General, President Ivanov stated that the Republic of Macedonia highly appreciates the role of OSCE and the support it provides to the country in various areas – rule of law, electoral processes and legislation, law enforcement and judiciary, promotion of interethnic relations and cohabitation.

The Republic of Macedonia, President Ivanov stated, fully supports the work of this organization and of Mr. Zanier.

The Macedonian President informed his interlocutor that the main challenge for the Republic of Macedonia remains the unblocking of the status quo situation in terms of integrations. He added that Euro-Atlantic integrations add to the cohesive power in our society.
The focus of the meeting was also on the situation in the wider region.

President Ivanov pointed out that the Republic of Macedonia supports the adoption of the Declaration on the OSCE role in countering the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters in the context of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014) regarding the countering of violent extremism.

"The Serbian Chairmanship of OSCE should be used to strengthen regional cooperation in our region, especially in terms of countering violent extremism and foreign fighters. We need to implement specific projects in cooperation with the OSCE, in order to counter and prevent these threats", said President Ivanov at the meeting.

"The general estimate is that there is great concern, above all for the situation in Ukraine. This raises many emotions, as was seen from the addresses of participants; and there is a certain degree of agitation, although at the Munich Security Conference, as one of the most important global forums, observes not only security issues, but also many other challenges of our times."

This was stated by President Ivanov after today's finish of the three-day conference in Munich.

He added that the Munich Conference is known as a forum that aims at resolving existing conflicts and preventing new ones through dialogue an peaceful means.

Emphasizing that the Conference is an excellent opportunity to meet many leaders, experts and decision-makers in the area of security, President Ivanov said that as always during his participation in this forum, he took the opportunity to exchange views, establish and renew contacts and realize meetings with all those connected with or relevant for our region.

During his bilateral meetings in Munich, the Macedonian President pointed to our situation since, as he said, "everyone refers to the respect of international law".

"I pointed out that this is exactly the problem that we have with our neighbor – the absence of respect for international law and existing accords. I also pointed to the fact that Macedonia has been blocked for a long time now due to the non-respect of international law by our Southern neighbor and that in our case, the positive experiences we have seen in our region involving parallel movement of the process of negotiation for EU membership should also be valid; this process transforms our society" - stated President Ivanov.

The Macedonian President also explained that all the countries in our region have transformed their societies, their institutions being adapted to European standards and principles and their entire ambient being changed.

"This is the missing link for us, and due to the blockade we can see where all of this leads in our country - said President Ivanov, adding that his interlocutors expressed their interest in the threats for our region such as terrorism and foreign terrorist fighters.

The 51st Munich Security Conference was attended by around 20 Heads of State and Government, 60 Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, 30 CEOs of global companies and numerous parliamentary delegations. Among other participants, the Conference was also attended by the German Federal Chancellor Mrs. Angela Merkel, representing the host country, the Vice President of the USA, Mr. Joseph Biden, the Presidents of Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Finland, Azerbaijan and Slovenia – Mrs. Dalia Gribauskaite, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, Mr. Sauli Ninisto, Mr. Ilham Aliyev and Mr. Borut Pahor, as well as the Dutch Prime Minister, Mr. Mark Rutte, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Sergej Lavrov, NATO Secretary General Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, OSCE Secretary General Mr. Lamberto Zanier and many others. Present at the conference were also many former statesmen, among which former US State Secretary Mrs. Madeleine Allbright and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The Munich Security Conference presided by Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger represents the most prestigious and renowned global forum, dedicated to issues of security, promotion of peaceful resolution of conflicts, international cooperation and dialogue in tackling security challenges of the present and future, with a special focus on Trans-Atlantic partnership. The Republic of Macedonia regularly participates at the Conference and is represented at the highest level.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, visited today the inundated areas around the river Crna in the Pelagonija region, as well as the villages of Trojkrsti and Loznani.

President Ivanov visited Trojkrsti village where members of the Army along with employees from the public enterprises in Prilep and members of the Fire Brigades were placing sandbags for flood control following the weather forecasts for more rains.
As was reported by the relevant institutions in the city of Prilep, today around six thousand sandbags are to be placed near the river Crna and the Blato channel in the vicinity of Chepigovo, Trojkrsti and Topolchani villages.

"Today we came to Pelagonija region in order to see the activities near the river Crna and all measures implemented by the Army, municipalities and public enterprises having in mind that new rains are expected, meaning that these weak spots on the river bank should be repaired. We have around 250 army members here, trying to place a total of ten thousand sandbags in the course of the day, in order to improve the situation" - the Macedonian President stated.
President Ivanov called upon local population to take part in the action.

"Locals should help army staff and all others involved in order to avoid bigger catastrophes that we have already seen happening in neighboring countries" - said President Ivanov.

The Chief of General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Gorancho Koteski informed that the Army has been deployed in several regions.

- In these past few days, the Army has been engaged in Shtip, Strumica, Kumanovo and here in the Pelagonija region, especially near the Crna riverbank. The Army has been investing maximum efforts and is ready to put all its capacities at the disposal of the citizens and local authorities affected by floods, he added.

General Koteski underlined that the Army is also fully prepared to evacuate affected areas if need be.

"At this moment, we have included 700 soldiers, as well as mechanization, in order to provide fuel to municipalities affected by floods. We prepared two aviation teams if there is need for evacuation of people from these areas" stated Koteski.

The Mayor of Prilep Marjan Risteski informed that during last night's meeting of the Crisis management HQ held in Bitola and led by the Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski, it was agreed that Bitola and Prilep as bigger municipalities should help smaller municipalities in this situation.

"We offered our assistance in order to prepare for the new rainfalls that were announced. The Army provided several hundred of their staff, and both municipalities also made available all the staff from public enterprises. Over one hundred people from Prilep volunteered to help in placing sandbags along the Crna riverbank and wherever weak spots were detected. We hope that we will succeed because the water level of the river and of all the channel drainages is at its peak", said Risteski.

The Mayor of Bitola Vladimir Taleski confirmed that his municipality will assist in the repairs of the Crna riverbank.

"The problem in this region is that Crna river does not have enough capacity to absorb all waters. We are trying to divert water flows to avoid waters reaching the houses in residential areas. There are also major fissures of the riverbank near the villages of Radovo and Charlija. We have people and activities there as well, said Taleski. New information regarding the next meeting of the Regional Crisis management HQ in Bitola is expected in 14:00."