The European integration and the economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Macedonia were the focus of the meeting in Prague between the Presidents of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, and of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov.
The Czech Republic is very interested to invest in Macedonia. We already have investors in small hydro power plants, but we want to improve the cooperation in the energy, mining and to build the tramway in Skopje, President Zeman said at the joint press conference. He said he was confident that Macedonia will gradually join the great family of nations, the EU and NATO. The Czech Republic supports Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, but as you know, in these organizations, decisions are taken by consensus and one member can block, said Zeman and pointed as an example of overcoming the situation to the agreement to the Slovenia-Croatia dispute over the Piran Bay.
President Ivanov said he expected the meeting to be an incentive to enhance cooperation between the two countries and expressed appreciation for the Czech support for Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, especially for the principled stance on the use of the constitutional name in bilateral communication. 
The Macedonian President urged at the meeting that the Hague judgment should be respected and parallel movement in solving the name issue and start of negotiations for membership in the European Union. If NATO respects its principles, we should receive an invitation for membership at the next summit in the UK, because we have already met all the requirements. We should be realists, the name dispute remains, and our neighbor has no desire to come to a solution, President Ivanov said. He said that trade between the two countries has grown steadily and there is a good cooperation in all other fields. Trade, from year to year, increases and has already reached 250 million euros, of which 170 are Macedonian export to the Czech Republic. After each of our meetings, the cooperation is improving, primarily in the field of economy. There is good cooperation in culture, education, sports, tourism, President Ivanov said.
President Ivanov announced that the Czech President Zeman will receive the highest award, the Macedonian Order “September 8” for development of good relations between the two countries and the continued and consistent support of his predecessors. He said that he has devoted special attention during his entire term to the relations with the Visegrad Group countries, being the countries, among other things, Macedonia have the best political relations with.
The Czech support for the integration of the Republic of Macedonia into the EU and NATO was also confirmed by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Bohuslav Sobotka, at the meeting with the Macedonian President held in Prague. President Ivanov expressed gratitude for the support and asked the Czech Republic to influence the respect of the undertaken international commitments, such as the Interim Accord and the ICJ ruling. In the European integration context, President Ivanov urged that there are no double standards and the principle of parallel movement of the processes to be applied in the Macedonian case, by setting a date to start accession negotiations with the EU. At Prime Minister’s interest, the Macedonian president briefed the Czech Prime Minister on the stage of the UN-led process to overcome the name issue. The meeting discussed the possibilities to boost economic cooperation, primarily to strengthen cooperation in tourism and for this purpose, the possibility of reestablishing the airline Prague - Skopje. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Sobotka, expressed interest in investment opportunities and business climate in the Republic of Macedonia. The meeting, which was also attended by the Minister for Foreign Investments of the Republic of Macedonia, Bill Pavleski, the Czech Prime Minister was informed about the economic reforms and investment incentives in Macedonia.
