SPEECH BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU, PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE,

FOR ANTONIO MILOŠOSKI, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

OF “THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA”

(STRASBOURG, WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2010)

Dear Chairman,

I would like to congratulate you on a most fruitful and successful chairmanship.

Your country has hosted a series of important events, including several Assembly meetings.

In particular, I would like to mention the CoE 2010 Exchange of the Religious Dimension of the Intercultural Dialogue which took place in Ohrid last September and in which I had the honour to participate.

You may know that the Ohrid conclusions will serve as a basis for a report by the Committee on Culture and Education for a major debate on the religious dimension of inter-cultural dialogue during the April 2011 part-session.

Dear Chairman, the cooperation between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly is an institutional matter, but also a matter of personal commitment and involvement. In this respect, I recall the interesting and constructive discussions that we held and the concern that we shared on numerous occasions.

Hence, in addition to your commitment as a Committee of Ministers Chairman, I wish to thank you for your friendship, your fair-play and your willingness to cooperate. Fortunately these are assets that do not cease with the end of a chairmanship and I am confident that the same spirit will mark the future relations between your country and the Assembly.