Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Macedonia and Canada – right friends at the right time
The Republic of Macedonia sees in Canada a right friend at the right time. We are grateful for the support Canada is giving to the Republic of Macedonia, for the recognition of the constitutional name, for the consistent position regarding our NATO membership, as well as for the possibility for the Macedonian settlers to enjoy every right in Canada. These are some of the points President Veljanoski emphasized during the meeting with his Canadian colleague, the Speaker of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, Mr. Peter Milliken.
President Veljanoski also said that the Republic of Macedonia, although a young democracy, is prepared to learn from the countries with long democratic tradition, and expressed his readiness for full support of the parliamentary cooperation, adding that the level of political cooperation should be mirrored in the field of economy.
Mr. Milliken remembered the hospitality with which he was received in Macedonia and expresses satisfaction from the dynamics of the development of the relations between the two countries, as well as from the possibilities for strengthening of the parliamentary cooperation on bilateral and in the framework of the international organizations.
During the day the Delegation from the Assembly headed by President Veljanoski also had meetings with the members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the House of Commons, with two Members of Parliament – parliamentary secretaries to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for International Cooperation, as well as with the members of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association and the members of the Canadian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Among the many issues discussed at the meetings, special emphasis was given to the role of the Republic of Macedonia in the NATO peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and its role in the maintenance and promotion of peace and stability on the Balkans and in Europe in general. President Veljanoski pointed out that although the Republic of Macedonia is formally not a member of NATO it fulfils all the obligations and commitments as the full members of the Alliance, adding that although the Republic of Macedonia did not get the invitation to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit the integration in the Alliance is still strategic priority of the country, confirmed with the increase in the number of soldiers in the peacekeeping missions, as well as with the fact that over 80% of the Macedonian population support the accession into NATO.
In the framework of the official visit to Canada, the Macedonian representatives will also meet the Speaker of the Senate Mr. Noël A. Kinsella, and the Minister of International Trade Mr. Peter Van Loan.