The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs Fatmir Besimi, PhD and the Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the Republic of Macedonia, His Excellency Joseph Bencze, today have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for consistent assistance by the Hungarian part, intended for supporting the integration processes of Macedonia.

With this Memorandum, the Secretariat for European Affairs and the Republic of Hungary will participate in the joint programme called "Future EU partners" which provides special trainings to strengthen the research and analytical capacities of the employees in state institutions in the Republic of Macedonia.

The objective is to create the capacities to prepare a sustainable analysis and research coming from the Secretariat for European Affairs, and which will be used by the Government and the government institutions."This support has shown the interest of Hungary to support our integration commitments and has been in line with the priorities of their Presidency with the Visegrad Group in 2014 for promoting the European Integration of the Western Balkans countries and to assist them in their preparations for EU membership" – said Besimi in his speech.

The Deputy Prime Minister Besimi referring to the friendly relations between the two countries has welcomed the initiative for the project "Future EU partners" and has added that this is one of the many supports that Macedonia has obtained from the EU Member States. Besimi has added that these trainings will contribute to strengthening the administrative capacities of the Secretariat for European Affairs and of other institutions in the country, and they will also have a positive impact on the implementation of the reforms set out in the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis of the European Union.

The Hungarian Ambassador to Macedonia, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Bencze, in his addressing has noted that for achieving success, one should always work in a partnership and that the realisation of this programme has been part of their efforts to move Europe closer to Macedonia.

The Deputy Prime Minister Besimi and the Ambassador Bencze have shown appreciation to all of the participants in the joint programme of the project, and also have wished them a success in achieving their objectives. In the realisation of this project also have been included the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).