Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski in an interview with Kanal 77 spoke about his visit to Washington D.C. and meetings at the World Bank and the U.S. State Department. Deputy PM Nikoloski noted that he took part in the annual World Bank conference, where he delivered a speech together with the European Commissioner for Transport, as well as in a ministerial meeting with representatives from the largest countries in the world, where the focus of the meetings was mobility and transport.
“I was invited to the annual World Bank conference there, where I delivered a speech together with the EU Commissioner for Transport. There were representatives from all over the world. I was part of a ministerial meeting with the largest countries in the world, in the area of mobility and transport, and numerous other meetings within the World Bank,” Nikoloski noted.
“In addition to economic topics, I also used the visit to Washington for a series of political meetings at the State Department and the Security Council,” stressed the Deputy PM.
“I also had meetings at the State Department, where I met with the US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, as well as numerous other meetings within the Security Council. So it was a serious combination of economic and political meetings,” added Nikoloski.
“For the first time at a political meeting, at a high level, the number one topic is not the European Union, which I think is a result of the relations that currently exist and is in no way related to Macedonia, but to their mutual relations. And the topic was bilateral cooperation, where this Government is praised for the support it provides. There were certain votes at the UN, where Macedonia was one of the rare countries that supported the US. So the US is our number one strategic partner, we have a strategic partnership agreement with them and I think that should be a priority in foreign policy, just as we recently signed such an agreement with the United Kingdom. So these are the centers outside of Brussels, towards which we are turning our attention,” underlined Deputy Prime Minister Nikoloski.
