Skopje, 16 January 2023 (MIA) – Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi met Monday with the Westminster Democracy Foundation (WFD) Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Chris Levick, who was accompanied by the regional deputy director Damir Neziri and Director of North Macedonia Office for Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Dona Kosturanova.

The meeting, which was also attended by the Parliament’s Secretary General, Cvetanka Ivanova, was focused on joint successful projects initiated and implemented between the Parliament and the Westminster Democracy Foundation.

Xhaferi referred the establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office, which increased the capacity of the service in providing support to the MPs, and thus to the Parliament, for systematized financial supervision and consideration of the draft state budget based on relevant financial analyzes based on researched data, Parliament said in a press release.

“He also mentioned the support for the establishment and development of the Club for Youth Affairs and Policies within the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia as a significant success of the cooperation. In addition, he highlighted the adoption of the Declaration for Active Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities by Parliament in 2019 with a support to the Westminster Democracy Foundation. The Parliament remains open, as before, for the continuation of the already started and the initiation of new joint projects within the Strategic Plan of the Parliament 2023-2027,” reads the press release.

Levick, for his part, expressed gratitude for the partnership and friendly relationship between the Westminster Democracy Foundation and the Parliament, emphasizing that all joint successes are the result of such a relationship and it is no coincidence that our Parliament is a leader in the region and an example of a solid, efficient institution that produces benefits for the citizens.

He briefed on the newly approved two-year programme of the Westminster Democracy Foundation “Increased civic engagement and greater trust of citizens in the institution” and expressed satisfaction with the announcement of Xhaferi and Ivanova that the Parliament, within the framework of the Strategic Plan 2023-2027, will set the priorities within the programme and in that direction will direct the activities for future joint cooperation.