Skopje, 20 May 2025 (MIA) - Within the third Cultural Diplomacy Forum – Skopje 2025, Tuesday’s debate in the Parliament’s Constitutional Hall focused on “The Future of Democracy in a Fragmented World: How to Strengthen Democratic Institutions?”

In addition to the Cultural Diplomacy Forum participants, MPs of the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia took part in the debate, concluding that cultural diplomacy is crucial for reinforcing democracy during a period of stagnation amid significant geopolitical changes.

At the opening of the event, Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi expressed his satisfaction that the Parliament is part of the Cultural Diplomacy Forum’s agenda, offering MPs a chance to contribute to enhancing cultural diplomacy globally, which can accomplish what traditional diplomacy sometimes cannot.

“Cultural diplomacy, as a predecessor to political and economic diplomacy worldwide, has the task of creating the most favourable perception of countries and bringing peoples closer together, which is essentially the fundamental mission of culture. Today, the world faces dramatic events and is changing at lightning speed, while rising geopolitical tensions cause upheavals and uncertainty. The increased dynamics in international relations increasingly point to the need to utilize the opportunities offered by cultural diplomacy to enrich and expand the content through which foreign policy relations are built and nurtured,” Gashi said.

Former President Gjorge Ivanov pointed out that we are living in a time of widespread transformation, while democracy is stagnating due to a surge of misinformation, economic inequality, authoritarian tendencies, and political polarization... For that reason, he said, there is a need to strengthen democratic institutions, boost civic engagement in decision-making, and create strategies to fight misinformation.

As participants in the Cultural Diplomacy Forum, the event was attended by former President of Albania, Rexhep Meidani, as well as the former President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ranko Krivokapić, who, among other things, emphasized the importance of restoring trust in politics and overcoming the absence of political leadership.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, former British MP; Davor Filipović, former Croatian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development; and Delia Domingo Albert, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, spoke about the role of cultural diplomacy in strengthening democratic institutions, the Parliament said in a press release.

MP Saranda Imeri Stafai, Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Tourism, also emphasized that culture is a bridge for connecting people and overcoming prejudices and stereotypes.

Photo: Parliament