Skopje, 19 February 2026 (MIA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski told reporters ahead of the Macedonian-Slovak Business Forum on Thursday that over 60 percent of the new candidates for ambassadors are professional diplomats from the ranks of the employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

He said he has put forward several names at the latest government session, adding that he will confirm them upon receiving approvals.  

"The process of nominating and appointing heads of diplomatic and consular missions in accordance with the Law on Foreign Affairs is coordinated by me, but the entire process also involves coordination with the President and the Prime Minister. After such coordination with the President and the Prime Minister, I can confirm that I proposed several names at the latest session of the Government, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, to fill several vacancies for heads of diplomatic and consular missions," said Mucunski.

He pointed out that over 60 percent of the new candidates for ambassadors and consuls general are professional diplomats from the ranks of the employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with a rich diplomatic career spanning over 20 years, noting that "this is related to our commitment that began with the amendments to the Law on Foreign Affairs."

"I'd like to remind the Macedonian public that for more than 20 years, many of my predecessors have been talking about the need for professionalization of the diplomatic service. But this Government is the first Government to take a concrete step in that direction. We amended the Law on Foreign Affairs so that at least 50 percent of the heads of the diplomatic missions are ambassadors from the professional diplomatic staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while in practice we have over 60 percent and this is evident from the latest group of appointments," Mucunski said.

According to some media outlets, the Government at its session on Tuesday has approved a list of new ambassadors and consuls general, in Stockholm, Bucharest, Pristina, London, The Hague, Strasbourg, NATO and Sofia, as well as Thessaloniki and Melbourne.

Muharem Jusufi, a staff member of the Ministry of Foreign Affars and Foreign Trade, has been proposed as ambassador to Sweden, while Orhan Murtezani is leaving his post as Minister of European Affairs to become ambassador to NATO headquarters in Brussels. 

Former ambassador to Ukraine Krum Efremov has been nominated as ambassador to Sofia, Gabriel Atanasov from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has been nominated as ambassador to Romania, and Katerina Todorovska has been nominated as ambassador to Pristina.

Linda Salieska Iljazoska from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade has been nominated for the post of ambassador to The Hague, while Ilina Mangova, who comes from the non-governmental sector, has been nominated as ambassador to London. Svetlana Geleva has been nominated for a second term at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The list also mentions two names for consuls general – Tomislav Dimitrovski in Thessaloniki and Aleksandar Krstevski in Melbourne, both staff members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Photo: MIA