New York, 28 September 2024 (MIA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski stated in an interview with MIA that he plans to start consultations for appointing ambassadors and filling positions in several embassies and consulates after returning to Skopje.

“We are now formulating a plan for reallocating diplomats within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be dispatched to diplomatic and consular missions in the near future. I have received initial consent from both the President and the Prime Minister that after my return from this trip to the United States, we will commence the consultation process for appointing ambassadors and filling some of the embassies and consulates that are currently vacant or will soon become vacant in the highest positions,” Mucunski stated.

Upon assuming responsibility for the institutions, he said, we discovered an inadequate distribution of personnel within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in our diplomatic and consular offices. 

“The most classic example is the fact that we have only two diplomats in our embassy in Washington: the ambassador and one junior diplomat, in a country that is our strategic partner and with which we maintain excellent relations not only in politics but also in defense and security policy, in the economy, and all other matters, including the fact that this is also a country where we have a large diaspora,” he noted.

“We don’t have an embassy or consulate that isn’t a priority for us. It’s true that our network isn’t extensive; I have a moderately sized and probably adequate diplomatic network of consular offices. However, we must ensure that no consular office remains vacant because having an ambassador or a general consul gives that office more authority than having just an acting head. I should emphasize that we still lack an ambassador in Paris, as France is a significant country. As you know, our permanent mission was vacated with the return of Ambassador Frchkoski, and the position at the UN is also unfilled. Nonetheless, I reiterate that there is no country that we don’t consider important,” Mucunski said.

Photo: MIA