On 11 May National Council president Pierre-André Page met with the president of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Afrim Gashi, who was accompanied on his visit to Switzerland by a parliamentary delegation as part of the ‘Mountain Talks’, a political dialogue supported by Swiss cooperation. The talks focused on the workings of the Swiss parliament, bilateral relations, Switzerland’s parliamentary support programme for the Assembly of North Macedonia, and Switzerland’s new package of agreements with the European Union.
The two presidents praised the excellent relations between Switzerland and North Macedonia, which were further strengthened by President Parmelin’s visit to Skopje on 29 April. Mr Page emphasised the importance of the human ties between the two countries, noting that the North Macedonian diaspora of some 110,000 people living in Switzerland play an active role in fostering economic, cultural and social exchanges between the two countries. Mr Gashi also acknowledged the excellent relations between the two countries as well as the support that Swiss cooperation has provided to the Assembly in its EU accession process since 2006. This support has produced tangible results that have helped to enhance the independence of the Assembly and its transparency towards its citizens.
Switzerland has been supporting North Macedonia’s development since the 1990s and is now one of the country’s main bilateral donors. As part of its parliamentary technical cooperation efforts, the Federal Assembly also contributes
to capacity building for the North Macedonian Assembly. In recent years, these exchanges of expertise between the two parliamentary administrations have focused on civic education, the organisation of visits, the budgetary process, financial planning and financial oversight.
The meeting also covered Switzerland’s relations with the EU. Mr Page explained that a new package of agreements had been negotiated with the EU and was currently being debated in the Swiss parliament, with the Swiss people due to vote on it in a referendum in 2028. He pointed out that the EU was Switzerland’s main economic market and that, with this new package of agreements, Switzerland was seeking to stabilise its bilateral relations with the EU, while preserving its sovereignty and neutrality.
Finally, the two presidents agreed that there was still scope to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, through the diaspora and the new Swiss Chamber of Commerce in North Macedonia, which was launched during President Guy Parmelin’s visit to Skopje in April.
