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Today in Skopje started a training organized by the Centre for European Perspective (CEP), titled Public speaking skills and international negotiations techniques. It was opened by Zvonimir Popovic, director of Directorate for Public Diplomacy, Diplomatic Education and Analytical Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, Slobodan Šešum, economic advisor at the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia to the Republic of Macedonia and Andreja Dolničar Jeraj, CEP program director.

Zvonimir Popovic emphasized that Slovenia is traditionally very supportive for Macedonia’s efforts on its path towards European Union. He named two events supporting his statement, namely Slovene attempts to define the starting date of the negotiations between Republic of Macedonia and European Union and efforts of Slovene member of the European Parliament, Tanja Fajon, to get an agreement of member states that the visa liberalization for Macedonian citizens would enter into force before January 1st 2010. He thanked CEP for its support in Macedonian efforts to prepare its civil servants for the EU negotiations, which will hopefully, also on the basis of the EC Progress Report 2009, after four years of the candidate status, start very soon. In this respect, trainings with learning by doing from those with many experiences is the best that Ministry can provide for its employees. Popovic believes that this newly established cooperation with CEP will be very beneficiary for Macedonia’s further steps towards the EU.

Slobodan Šešum shortly pictured the intense support of Slovenia to Macedonia in practice with last week’s busy agenda: three-day visit of the Slovenia Official Development Aid (ODA) Team, while Macedonia is Slovene priority for ODA until 2015, bilateral political consultations on the EU Affairs, fair opening by state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, regular meetings of the Macedonia–Slovenia business club. Slovenia has on the EU level openly supported Macedonia’s efforts for its EU integration also through warm welcome of the EC Progress Report 2009, promotion of the visa liberalization as well as through its continuous strive for defining the start of the EU – Macedonia negotiations. In this respect Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as other ministries are at the disposal to their Macedonian colleagues for any assistance, help and sharing their know-how. At the end he expressed his wish that Slovenia and Macedonia will soon be together again in one community, this time in the European Union.

Andreja Dolničar Jeraj from CEP shortly presented CEP as the official provider of Slovene assistance which is mainly directed towards Western Balkan countries on their way towards the EU. She exposed that CEP always organizes practical, tailor-made and demand-driven trainings. As CEP got the request from Macedonian ministry for organizing training on international negotiations, Slovenia was happy for the trust that was put in its experiences and expertise. Training is organized as the needed basis for further trainings that hopefully follow, focusing on more concrete and specific EU topics; it is a step by step plan. However, Dolničar Jeraj pointed out that negotiations as such are important on many levels of our life – on private as well as professional. But when somebody is negotiating in the name of his country, his people, these are very important. At this time, the importance and responsibility lays on participants of the training, who will lead Macedonia towards the EU – these are one of the most important negotiations that one can run.

Training course entitled Public performance skills and international negotiations techniques is the first training course in the framework of the project Negotiations with the EU: Techniques, skills and content, which will take place from 10 until 13 November in Skopje. Inter-ministerial training course takes place in the form of workshops, role-play and simulation. The course is attended by 22 public service employees from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and Secretariat of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.