The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, met today with Mr. Ivica Dacic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, who is paying a working visit to the Republic of Macedonia as Chairman of the OSCE.

At the meeting, President Ivanov stressed that the Republic of Macedonia highly appreciates the role of the OSCE and the support it gives to the country in many areas - the rule of law, the electoral process and legislation, supporting areas such as police and judiciary, promotion of inter-ethnic relations and coexistence.

President Ivanov expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Republic of Serbia, as a neighbor of the Republic of Macedonia, is chair of the OSCE, and in that context, expressed confidence that the Serbian Chairmanship would appropriately express the interests of the region.

The Republic of Macedonia, President Ivanov said, fully supports the work of the organization and the Serbian Chairmanship.

The Macedonian President informed the OSCE Chairman, Mr. Dacic, that the key challenge for the Republic of Macedonia to unblock the status quo in the integrations remains, adding that the Euro-Atlantic integrations provide additional cohesive power in our society.

The meeting focused on the situation in the wider region and on the current actions of the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship, especially in the context of dealing with the phenomenon of foreign fighters and violent extremism.

The Serbian OSCE Chairmanship, as President Ivanov said, should be used to strengthen our cooperation in the region on the issue of tackling violent extremism and foreign fighters, saying that additional projects are needed in cooperation with the OSCE to tackle and prevent these threats.

Both sides exchanged views on the crisis in Ukraine, as one of the current priorities of the organization. In this respect, President Ivanov once again emphasized the support of the efforts of the OSCE and the Serbian Chairmanship on finding a diplomatic solution to the problem.