The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today had a working meeting with the heads of the diplomatic and consular representative offices and missions of the Republic of Macedonia abroad.

 
 The Macedonian diplomats, at the meeting, briefed the President on their activities and significant achievements in the course of 2011. President’s general assessment is that the Macedonian diplomacy was engaged in meeting strategic objectives. President Ivanov, who in 2011, paid 24 official and working visits to foreign countries and hosted 9 visits to foreign dignitaries to the Republic of Macedonia, said he thus had the opportunity to follow the activities of many of the Macedonian diplomats and got directly familiar with their work.

President Ivanov noted the deepening of the partnership relations with more countries and international institutions. He also referred to the ruling of the International Court in The Hague, stressing that it is a confirmation of the credibility of our foreign policy.

President Ivanov added that, however, a lot remains to be done to meet citizens’ expectations. He called for greater involvement of the ambassadors in the public and cultural diplomacy, as well as more active promotion of the achievements of the Republic of Macedonia internally, involvement in regional initiatives and efforts in building good neighborly relations. In this context, the President stressed that in the coming period the Republic of Macedonia will host two very important initiatives which will further strengthen the reputation of our country: 2012-2013 chairmanship with the South Eastern Europe Cooperation Process and the Summit on the dialogue among civilizations, which the country will host in 2013.

According to the President, Macedonian accredited diplomats should be given the opportunity to more actively and freely represent the Republic of Macedonia’s interests, according to the set foreign policy priorities. However, he stressed the need to improve coordination among relevant institutions and diplomatic network that will contribute the Macedonian diplomacy to speak with a unified, clear and argumentative voice.

According to the announcements for more rigorous assessment and higher criteria, President Ivanov reiterated that in future, along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an evaluation will be conducted with regard to the engagement and results of the Macedonian diplomatic and consular representatives in 2011.

The Republic of Macedonia will be successful only if there are dedicated, motivated, well informed and credible ambassadors, President Ivanov stressed at today’s meeting.