Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani today at a press conference presented the M-CARD project, intended for persons who originate from the Republic of North Macedonia as a symbolic acknowledgement for their selfless engagement aimed at promoting the country abroad. The M-CARD is an acknowledgement and a recognition for eminent persons or individuals from the country who have shown exceptional success with their work and professionalism, and thus truly promoted North Macedonia abroad, Osmani emphasised. “As their motherland, we want to express our gratitude to them, I would say, in a symbolic manner – to pay them back, to compensate their role as promotors of the country, representing us as a country of successful and quality people”, he added. “During a longer past period, a large number of people have not only left the country, but they have achieved particular exceptional professional and social success where they are. They are successful doctors, scientists, businessmen, culture workers etc. that we want to attract to the country, strengthen their ties and create a potential for their closer involvement in our social flows”, Osmani emphasised. The idea is for such individuals to be included in a wider network that would be involved deeper in the social flows in the country. The whole process regarding the M-CARD will be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The card will provide certain benefits such as free entrance at cultural events, museums and galleries, it would offer an advantage when applying for projects in the framework of programs for cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with individuals and associations abroad, facilitate regulating the stay in the country and support in the case of new businesses opening etc. The list of benefits is being expanded in cooperation with other Government departments. The detection of such persons is planned to be started by the diplomatic missions and consular posts of North Macedonia abroad, and the awarding will be realized in a strictly determined procedure conducted within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

The “Road to Prespa Forum Dialogue” international panel was held today at the Parliamentarians’ Club in Skopje as an introductory event for the upcoming “Prespa Forum Dialogue” that will be held on 1-2 July this year in Ohrid and Oteshevo. The panel was hosted by Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani who took the opportunity to set out the aim and to present the concept and the fundamental idea behind the Prespa Forum Dialogue.   “In the core of the Prespa Forum Dialogue is the essence of the three Agreements for which North Macedonia is recognized as a unique example in the broader region. Those are the Ohrid Framework Agreement, the Treaty on Friendship with Bulgaria and the Agreement for Strategic Partnership with Greece, known as the Prespa Agreement. They contain strong political principles and values of universal importance: above all brave political steps to build long-term and stable compromises; mutual respect, political and diplomatic patience, and most of all the positive approach in building friendships between neighbours in the broadest sense of the word”, Osmani emphasised. The participants voiced support and underlined the importance of the initiative for establishing the Forum. With their fruitful discussions they provided new ideas and proposals that will be presented in a joint regional political document with recommendation regarding the political, economic and social influence of the regional and bilateral agreement in the Western Balkans at the upcoming Prespa Forum Dialogue Conference. In addition to the host – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani – other participants in the event included Florian Bieber, SEE History and Politics Professor at the University of Graz; Ioannis Armakolas of ELIAMEP; Vesela Cherneva, Deputy Director of the ECFR and head of the European Council for Foreign Policy’s Sofia office; Edward Joseph, Professor at John Hopkins University in the US; Gerald Knaus of the European Stability Initiative in Berlin; Damir Marusic of the Atlantic Council, Ivan Krastev of the Cenre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Valeska Esch of the Aspen Institute Germany, Erwan Fouéré of the Centre for European Policy Studies. Furthermore, numerous representatives of state institutions, foreign embassies in the country and representatives of the non-governmental sector in the country were also in attendance. Prespa Forum Dialogue is an important project organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the auspices of the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. It is an international conference with an impressive list of invited guests, many of which have already confirmed their attendance, including prime ministers, ministers from the region and EU member states, high representatives of the EU and the US, as well as representatives other international organizations. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, hosted today the Foreign Ministers of Austria – Alexander Shallenberg, Slovenia - Anže Logar and of the Czech Republic - Jakub Kulhánek, who are paying a one-day working visit to the Republic of North Macedonia. Talks focused on the current EU-related topics: the country’s European file, the reform processes, good neighbourly relations, and some of the central topics were also the opportunities for advancing in the European integration process at the upcoming summer EU Councils.  On this occasion, Osmani expressed his gratitude for the strong support and continuous engagement of Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic for North Macedonia’s success on the European path, while especially thanking the European Union for the vaccines provided to the citizens of the whole Western Balkans. "Their support is really strong, consistent and long-term. We are not harmonizing their position on our European integration today – this is already well-known; today I have asked for, and received strong messages of agreement from my colleagues, that this energy of theirs, this effort and loud support within the Union will continue. In this conditionally asymmetric dispute we are facing, we need friends to provide us with a fair platform, to provide us with a fair political space so that we can remove the obstacles to the continuation of our European integration through dialogue," Osmani said. The foreign ministers are visiting the country as representatives of the informal group of EU member states "C5", which in addition to Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, also includes Slovakia and Hungary, whose representatives have already paid the country a visit. These countries are the immediate neighborhood of the Western Balkans. In addition to the principled support underpinned by our merits, they also have a strong interest in the progress of the whole region, as well as a broad and deep knowledge of the situation in their immediate neighborhood, which makes them strong political authorities within the Union when it comes to issues related to our region. "I would like to believe that this summer brings more than good weather; our hopes are to have a better and more positive political climate. The summer EU summits are a window of opportunity that we should seize with all our political will and efforts; the stakes are too high, and we are too close to miss out on this. Your presence in the country is timely, exactly 30 days before the June EU meetings, where we expect the decision from last March for a formal start of negotiations to be implemented," said Osmani.