The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, met today with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr. Ivica Dacic, who is paying an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia.

The meeting exchanged views and information on further deepening of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries, as well as on the situation in the region, the regional cooperation and Euro-integration processes in both countries. Both interlocutors agreed that the political ties are at an exceptionally high level, whereas a confirmation of the good bilateral communication is the continuity of meetings of both countries' officials.

Welcoming the ongoing cooperation at governmental level and the joint session of the two Governments, President Ivanov said that this kind of cooperation is especially important for the overall friendly relations between the two countries. The cooperation focus in the future should be on strengthening the economic relations, balancing the trade exchange, promoting mutual investment, improving communication between business communities and commitment of both countries to facilitate such priorities by projects in road, rail and energy infrastructure, President Ivanov said.

Minister Dacic expressed the Republic of Serbia's readiness for building and promoting good neighborly relations in the function of security, stability and prosperity of the region, cooperation in regional initiatives and at multilateral level. The Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia have a common interest in cooperation in many spheres, and I fully agree with what should be a central focus of our cooperation for the coming period, Minister Dacic said.

The Macedonian President added that bridges of cooperation are also the Macedonians in Serbia and the Serbs in Macedonia, whose status is an example in the region of respect for the linguistic and national differences.