Attending the 22^nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which starting from today will be taking place in Geneva until 22 March 2013, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, Nikola Poposki, has had a series of separate meetings at the UN headquarters in the Swiss city with several senior UN officials and a number of his foreign counterparts participating in the Session as well.

At his meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, Minister Poposki has updated the senior UN official of the latest set of activities that the Republic of Macedonia has been undertaking in view of protecting and promoting human rights at all relevant levels. On that note, Minister Poposki has pledged his strong support for the activities of High Commissioner Pillay, as well as for the role she has been playing in the promotion of human rights within the UN system in general. Furthermore, the chief of Macedonian diplomacy has reaffirmed the staunch commitment of the Republic of Macedonia to meeting the obligations it has assumed under the various UN conventions dealing with the issue of human rights protection and promotion, discussing, on that occasion, with High Commissioner Pillay the mandates of the UNHRC Special Procedures and the Macedonian openness to cooperating with them, as well as mentioning, in that context, the candidacy of the Republic of Macedonia for UNHRC membership in the period between 2014 and 2016.

On the first day of his visit to Geneva, the Macedonian Foreign Minister has also had a bilateral meeting with his Swiss counterpart, Didier Burkhalter, at which he has discussed with the Swiss Foreign Minister the bilateral cooperation and projects in which the two countries have jointly been involved. In that context, Minister Poposki has expressed his appreciation to his Swiss colleague for the support that his country’s government has been continuously affording the Republic of Macedonia over the years. Furthermore, Mr. Poposki has taken the opportunity of meeting his Swiss counterpart to brief him on the results that the Macedonian government has had with regard to the measures it has undertaking with a view to reducing and suppressing the phenomenon of Macedonian nationals filing false asylum applications in Switzerland, informing Minister Burhalter, as well, on the overall progress that the country has hitherto achieved in its European integration process.

In addition to meeting his Swiss counterpart Burkhalter, Minister Poposki has also had a meeting with the Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, at which both he and his Brazilian colleague have called for expanding economic cooperation and commerce between their two respective countries. Furthermore, the chiefs of Macedonian and Brazilian diplomacies have discussed the arrangements that their two countries have made for offering each other reciprocal support within various multilateral organizations. On that note, Brazilian Foreign Minister Patriota has announced his country’s plans to raise the level of its diplomatic representation in Macedonia and consequently initiating procedures for liberalizing its visa regime towards Macedonia in the very foreseeable future.

Minister Poposki has today also had an opportunity to meet with Mexican Foreign Secretary José Antonio Meade Kuribreña with whom he has discussed the ongoing global economic challenges, as well as the efforts that Macedonia and Mexico have both been investing in attracting foreign direct investments over the last few years. On that note, the chiefs of Macedonian and Mexican diplomacies have both agreed that facilitating the existing visa regime between Macedonia and Mexico will certainly improve the communication between the two countries, calling, on that occasion, for the two countries investing greater efforts into investigating the possibilities for pursuing such a course of action in the coming period. In addition to that, Minister Poposki and his Mexican colleague have reaffirmed their countries’ support for each other’s candidacies within the UN system and other international organizations.