Silegov: Historic day for Skopje and Athens


The municipalities of Skopje and Athens signed Friday an agreement for cooperation. The document was signed by the mayors of the capitals of Macedonia and Greece, Petre Silegov and Georgios Kaminis respectively.

“After signing the agreement, Skopje and Athens will start sharing information, experiences, new practices and nourishing cooperation in various spheres of our duties and competences, including city administration, public service management, urban development, environment protection, cultural and tourist activities, innovations, information technologies and digitization,” Silegov said after the signing ceremony held in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje.

The cities, he added, will also cooperate as part of the network EUROCITIES and promote trade contacts.

Kaminis and I, Silegov said, both believe in cooperation and are not afraid of challenges and I also believe this is a historic day for Skopje and for Athens.

“We are willing and we have the capacity to strengthen our friendship. We can do a lot more together and we will reach our goal much faster to provide better standards for living for the citizens of Skopje and Athens by cooperating,” noted Mayor Silegov.

Mayor Kaminis said that bilateral issues shouldn’t prevent the two countries from solving problems or from seeking a mutually acceptable solution (to the name issue).

“We mustn’t miss this train. Our friendship is showing the world that we won’t be divided by our history and that in fact it is supposed to bring us closer. The citizens of Skopje and Athens expect their mayors to serve the best they can,” noted the Greek Mayor.

The cooperation agreement was signed in the Museum of Contemporary Art, which houses works by Greek artists donated after the 1963 Skopje earthquake as a show of solidarity.

Athens Mayor Kaminis today paid a return visit to Skopje following the visit of Mayor Silegov to Athens in February.