The President of Republic of Macedonia Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, paying official visit to Austria, today in Vienna will meet his host, the Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer.

At the meeting which will take place at the presidential palace Hofburg, Presidents Ivanov and Fischer are expected to talk about the bilateral relations, the possibilities for intensified economic cooperation, as well as Macedonia’s EU and NATO integration. Another envisaged topic is the process for overcoming the difference with Greece over the constitutional name of Macedonia, an issue that blocks the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

President Ivanov this afternoon will also meet the Austrian Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann. The two-day visit to Vienna will conclude with a meeting with the members of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce which will present an opportunity for promotion of Macedonia’s economic conditions to the foreign investors.

Macedonian Chief of state started his activities in the Austrian capital last night when he met representatives of the Macedonian Diaspora engaged in the church community “St. Naum Ohridski”. At the ceremony held in the church, the building of which started in 2008 and it’s the only sacral object of Orthodox Macedonians in Austria, President Ivanov said that Macedonia cares for its expatriates. A positive step in that regard is the opportunity opened for the expatriates to vote at the last Parliamentary elections in Macedonia.

“At the outset it might be considered as a symbolic step, but still one that shows that your homeland Macedonia is thinking of you,” said President Ivanov.