The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, met today with the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, the Honorable Andrew Scheer, who is paying an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia.

The meeting discussed the further strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, multilateral cooperation, and the situation regarding the Republic of Macedonia's membership in NATO.

Both interlocutors agreed that the political relations between the two countries are characterized by positive development dynamics without open issues, continuous political dialogue and cooperation in many important areas of mutual interest.

President Ivanov expressed satisfaction with the successful development trend of the relations between the two friendly countries and of fruitful political dialogue, reaffirming our willingness to strengthen and deepen the political relations and to enhance cooperation in all fields of mutual interest.

With regard to Macedonia's membership in NATO, President Ivanov expressed his gratitude for the consistent support of Canada and asked for support and engagement at the upcoming NATO Summit in Wales. In this context, the Macedonian President informed the interlocutor about the implications of the status quo in terms of the Euro-Atlantic integrations, as well as on the talks on the name dispute, which is the only obstacle on our Euro-Atlantic path.

At the meeting, President Ivanov commended the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, which marks a positive and successful development, owing greatly to the parliamentary friendship groups within the two parliaments.

The Macedonian President expressed expectation for improving the cooperation in the area of defense and economy and boosting Canadian investment, thus stressing the need for improving the legal contractual framework between the two countries and the possible signing of specific agreements, as well as the need for liberalization of the Canadian visa regime for Macedonian citizens.

President Ivanov and the Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr. Scheer, reaffirmed the readiness to deepen cooperation, both at bilateral and multilateral level.