The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs, Fatmir Besimi, PhD, pays a two-day working visit to Paris, France.

During the visit of the Republic of France, the Deputy Prime Minister had an address at the celebration of the International Day of Vesak of UNESCO and met with Mr. Eric Fournier, Head of the Continental Europe Department within the French MFA, and the Director for the European Union Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Pierre Levy.

During the meeting current issues, challenges and developments in terms of the political situation in the Republic of Macedonia were discussed, as well as the importance of the enlargement of the EU as soon as possible to the countries of the Western Balkans in terms of achieving greater security, stability and prosperity in the region.

In his address at UNESCO on the subject "Fostering the world peace through cultural education", the Deputy Prime Minister Besimi underlined that the statement of Buddha that "With our thoughts we make the world" has a powerful message .... And is there a better way to form our thoughts, but through the education, the intercultural dialogue and the cross-cultural understanding ... where we learn that we need to build not only geographically but also strong spiritual bridges between people, where we learn to accept the others and for feedback to accept our role in building peace. We just need to act united to deal successfully with challenges in order to establish lasting peace.

The celebration of the International Vesak Day is a cultural, religious and humanistic event, that is being celebrated since 2000 at the headquarters and regional offices of the United Nations, with guests from more than 35 countries around the world, aiming at development of a world in which unity, justice and peace reign.