Monday, 8 July 2013
OPEN SKY BETWEEN MACEDONIA AND AUSTRALIA IN THE INTEREST OF BOTH COUNTRIES
Mr. Ilija Dimovski, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia for Cooperation with the Parliament of Australia, and the members of the Parliamentary Group Ms. Cvetanka Ivanova and Mr. Milorad Dodevski today met with Mr. Andrew Elsbury - member of the Parliament of Victoria (Australia).
Mr. Dimovski emphasized that in the last several years Macedonia is paying special attention to establishing closer contacts with Australia on all levels and that the Macedonian community in Australia acts as a bridge for all these activities.
One of the main topics of conversation was the cooperation between the two parliaments and the efforts for establishing the Australia-Macedonia friendship group in the Parliament of Victoria.
Mr. Elsbury said that although parliaments do not have executive powers, they can propose ideas such as intensification of the economic relations between the two countries, cooperation in the field of security, student exchange. He also referred to the recently signed open sky agreement between Macedonia and Australia which is in the interest of the two countries, having in mind the fact that in Victoria alone there are around 18,000 immigrants from Macedonia and more than 40,000 inhabitants with Macedonian origin, many of whom have successful businesses and are prominent members of the Australian society.
Despite the distance between the two countries, Australia and Macedonia can cooperate in many fields, such as trade, protection of the cultural heritage, etc. Both sides expressed hope than the Australian authorities will soon recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name.