Saturday, 9 February 2013
AT THE END OF HIS VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENT VELJANOSKI MET SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN
On the final day of his visit to the United States of America, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia Mr. Trajko Veljanoski had a meeting with US Senator John McCain - the Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
Senator McCain talked about the challenges regarding the developments in the Middle East, and wanted to hear more about the security situation on the Balkans and the name dispute with our southern neighbor.
President Veljanoski expressed appreciation for the consistent support the US has been giving to the Republic of Macedonia in all areas, especially concerning our NATO membership. Regarding the name dispute, he reaffirmed Macedonia's sincere approach and commitment to finding a mutually acceptable and sustainable solution to the matter.
Senator McCain highly praised the participation of the Macedonian soldiers in the peace keeping mission in Afghanistan and expressed hope that the problems facing the country on its path towards joining NATO will soon the resolved.
At the meeting with Mr. Lorne Craner, President of the International Republican Institute (IRI), the members of the delegation from the Assembly discussed the progress of the Republic of Macedonia in the Euro-Atlantic integration process and called for reactivation of the IRI projects in Macedonia which proved useful and were welcomed by all political players in the country.
Mr. Craner said that he would be glad to raise this issue before the decision making bodies of IRI.
At the last day of the visit to the US, the delegation from the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia also attended a working breakfast in the Heritage Foundation with several experts, analysts and connoisseurs of the situation in the Balkans. They discussed the security situation, the integration processes and the economic and business capacities of the Republic of Macedonia and the region in general.
The hosts commended Macedonia's progress on the Index of Economic Freedom list, which puts the country on the 43rd place in the world, compared to the 55th place the country held the previous year. Since 1995 the Heritage Foundation, in partnership with The Wall Street Journal, has tracked the situation concerning economic freedom around the world with the influential Index of Economic Freedom.
With these three meetings the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia wrapped up his official visit to the United States of America.