Austria is the next state that will solemnly open its consulate in the city of Bitola in Macedonia .
This was announced today by the Austrian Ambassador in Skopje, Thomas Michael Bayer during his stay in the municipality of Bitola and meeting with President Vladimir Talevski.
"We now have good news brought to us by Austrian Ambassador regarding the opening of the Austrian consulate in our city. We express our gratitude to the Government and the Austrian Foreign Ministry in the proceedings, which approved the opening of this honorary diplomatic representation. In this case, we will deepen cooperation and contacts with the Austrian state, opening various chennels of cooperation," Talevski said.
Valentina Ilieva will be Austrian Consul. She said that the cooperation will focus on economic and scientific progress. " The consulate will be a bridge between Vienna, Bitola and Austria and the citizens of both countries, who are interested and focused on cooperation in various fields," Ilieva said.
Previously in Albania was developed one debate on the opening of an Albanian consulate in Bitola, but this request was never defy by the authorities of Tirana. On the beginning of the XX century, Bitola was populated mainly from Albanians. Later Albanians were expelleed either by force or by different means by Slav Macedonians in collaboration with Greeks on their orthodox effort. Today the main popullation of this region is Slav Macedonian.