Skopje, 8 October 2023 (MIA) - The fourth module within the 2023 School of Policies of the Presidential Center for Political Education was held this weekend in Dojran on the topic "Geopolitical implications of the war in Ukraine: The role of the EU and NATO in the Western Balkans region", in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation in North Macedonia.

Aleksandar Lj. Spasov, president of the Program Council of the Presidential Center for Political Education, Foreign and Domestic Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, and professor at the Faculty of Law, and Daniela Popovska, member of the Program Council of the Presidential Center for Political Education and project coordinator at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation in Skopje delivered opening and closing remarks, the President's Office said in a press release.

EU Ambassador David Geer also addressed participants in the fourth module within the 2023 School of Policies, speaking about the challenges of the EU enlargement policy. 

Marjan Gjurovski from the Institute for Security, Defence and Peace at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Skopje University, Stefan Surlić of the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade, and Yorgos Christidis of the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, held lectures on "Bilateral agreements in the region - temporary solution or permanent settlement of longstanding open bilateral disputes".

Participants in the fourth module also discussed regional disputes within the process of the European integration of the region, which was also a topic addressed by Zoran Nechev from the Institute for Democracy "Societas Civilis" - Skopje.

Ambassador Pajo Avirovic, Special Representative of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia to the Permanent Council of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and Director of the Directorate for multilateral relations and security cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about effective multilateralism in times of global challenges.

Participants in the module also attended a workshop on Chinese influence in the Western Balkans, led by Ana Krstinovska from NGO "ESTIMA".

The School of Policies is held for the third year in a row, in cooperation with partner foundations and organizations that are part of the Program Council of the Presidential Center for Political Education, including the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation – Skopje, International Republican Institute (IRI), MK2025 Foundation, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation, Westminster Foundation for Democracy in North Macedonia, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).  

Photo: Office of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia