{"id":263610,"date":"2026-08-25T06:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/263610\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T06:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:38:09","slug":"north-macedonia-fm-stronger-israel-ties-are-key-foreign-policy-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/263610\/","title":{"rendered":"North Macedonia FM: Stronger Israel ties are key foreign policy priority"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Macedonia has made strengthening relations with Israel<\/a> a priority of its foreign policy and is seeking to expand cooperation in areas ranging from defense and investment to tourism and water management, Foreign Minister Tim\u010do Mucunski told The Jerusalem Post during his first official visit to Israel.<\/p>\n

Mucunski spoke to the Post in Jerusalem on Monday following talks with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar<\/a>, during a short visit focused heavily on expanding bilateral ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had a very strong relationship with Israel, but also myself with Gideon, over the last few years,\u201d Mucunski said. \u201cI think that this visit is an opportunity to move the bilateral relationship to the next step, to move from a place where we\u2019re at right now, which is excellent bilateral relations, to having that relationship develop into various different areas of mutual importance.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their meeting, Sa\u2019ar and Mucunski signed two cooperation agreements and discussed expanding ties in agriculture, water management, security, innovation, tourism, health, and education.<\/p>\n

Expanding, investing in defense ties<\/p>\n

Mucunski told the Post that the two sides also discussed cooperation between their defense industries, increasing investment and restoring direct air links between Israel and Macedonia.<\/p>\n

\"NorthNorth Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Tim\u010do Mucunski met with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar during a 24-hour diplomatic visit to Israel, focused on expanding bilateral ties. (credit: SHLOMI AMSALEM\/GPO)<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the first things that we talked about is if we can work together to establish a direct flight between Tel Aviv and Skopje, or Tel Aviv and Ohrid, which is our main tourist center and a city that I believe that every Israeli would love to visit at some point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The two ministers also signed agreements focusing on education, culture, and sports, while tasking their teams with looking at further opportunities in water management, agriculture, investment, and defense.<\/p>\n

Mucunski described a direct flight<\/a> as an important first step toward increasing the movement of people and businesses between the countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to have more and more tourists from Israel visiting Skopje, visiting Ohrid, but as well as the entirety of our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The visit comes amid a noticeable increase in high-level contacts between Israel and North Macedonia – Skopje Mayor Orce Gjiogjievski visited for the MUNI EXPO in June, and MP Rashela Mizarahi led a parliamentary delegation from the Balkan nation in January. Mucunski said the trend reflects a deliberate policy adopted by the government of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.<\/p>\n

Mickoski believes in stronger collaboration with Israel<\/p>\n

\u201cPrime Minister Mickoski himself believes that stronger collaboration with Israel is a necessity for our country to also be successful,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are many things that we can learn from you. There are many common values that we share, both domestically and internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the formation of our government, we have made the bilateral relationship with Israel one of the priorities of our foreign policy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mucunski said he and Sa\u2019ar communicate \u201con a fairly regular basis\u201d and have remained in frequent contact despite Monday marking his first visit to the country.<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar, meanwhile, thanked North Macedonia<\/a> for standing alongside Israel in international forums, particularly since the October 7 massacre.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorth Macedonia has demonstrated its friendship by standing up to these attempts in the international arena,\u201d Sa\u2019ar said. \u201cWe appreciate its voting record and its support for Israel. Israel values its friends who stand by it in difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mucunski, one example of the relationship came following the deadly nightclub fire in Ko\u010dani in March 2025, which left 63 people dead, when Israel dispatched a medical delegation to Macedonia to help treat victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cGideon Sa\u2019ar was one of the first foreign ministers to call me,\u201d Mucunski recalled. \u201cI might not remember the content of the call, but I remember what happened very quickly after.\u201d<\/p>\n

A team of Israeli doctors arrived shortly afterward and began working alongside Macedonian medical teams, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were performing surgery in our hospitals and helping our doctors with their experience and their in-depth knowledge, and helping to save the lives of many young individuals,\u201d Mucunski said. \u201cThis situation was proof that Israel stands by my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

A European gateway for Israelis\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mucunski said North Macedonia now hopes to position itself as a destination not only for Israeli tourists but also for Israeli companies seeking access to European markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a gateway for Israelis who want to visit Europe<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we want to be a gateway not just for tourists, but also for Israeli businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to Macedonia\u2019s position along two major European transport corridors, investment in energy connectivity, and its efforts to attract foreign investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can also be a gateway for Israelis who want to invest in a European market that hasn\u2019t been fully utilized by the Israeli business community,\u201d Mucunski said.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s visit lasted only around 24 hours, but Mucunski said he expected it to be the first of more visits to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first visit,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I am absolutely sure that it will not be my last.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jerusalem Post will publish a longer, in-depth interview with Foreign Minister Tim\u010do Mucunski later this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Macedonia has made strengthening relations with Israel a priority of its foreign policy and is seeking to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[989,54,159,5740,37,54698],"class_list":["post-263610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-diplomacy","tag-europe","tag-foreign-policy","tag-gideon-saar","tag-israel","tag-macedonia"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117154775580564155","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}