Bilateral relations between Ukraine and North Macedonia
History of bilateral relations
Relations between Ukraine and Macedonia were initiated on July 23, 1993 with Ukraine’s recognition of the state independence of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Diplomatic relations were established on April 20, 1995 by exchanging notes between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia.
Official contacts were initiated in May 1996 with the visit of the delegation of Ukraine headed by the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine V. Pustovoytenko.
The Agreement on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Macedonia, which defines the main principles and directions of development of bilateral relations, was concluded during the official visit of the President of Ukraine L. Kuchma to Macedonia on December 16-17, 1998.
In June 2000, the diplomatic mission of Ukraine was opened in the Republic of Macedonia.
In November 2001, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Macedonia was opened.
Recent contacts at the level of Presidents:
August 24, 2021
participation of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, in the celebrations on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine (Kyiv)
September 8, 2021
telephone conversation between the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski
November 01, 2021
meeting of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi with the President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski within the framework of participation in the UN Conference on Climate Change COP26 in Glasgow
May 25, 2022
meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba with the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos
at the level of Prime Ministers:
February 23 and March 27, 2022
telephone conversations between the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski
June 2, 2022
meeting of the Vice-Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna with the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski on the sidelines of the Globsec security forum (Bratislava)
at the level of Speakers of Parliaments:
November 22, 2017
visit of the the parliamentary group of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on inter-parliamentary relations to the Republic of Macedonia
May 29, 2018
visit of the parliamentary delegation of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia to Ukraine
June 10-12, 2021
visit of the parliamentary group of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on inter-parliamentary relations to the Republic of North Macedonia
April 27, 2022
visit to Ukraine by the President of the Assembly of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi, meetings with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk
at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs:
April 11-12, 2018
official visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin to the Republic of Macedonia
August 23, 2021
visit to Ukraine by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani and his participation in the Summit of the Crimean Platform (Kyiv)
February 19, 2022
meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani within the framework of the Munich Security Conference
April 8, 2022
meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani during the visit of the “OSCE Troika” to the border of Poland and Ukraine in Rzeszów (Poland)
May 14, 2022
meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani in Berlin
May 19, 2022
meeting of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani in Turin
May 27, 2022
visit to Ukraine by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani
Bilateral bodies of high level
The Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Macedonian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. The third meeting of the Commission was held on June 16, 2021 in Kyiv.
The Joint Committee for the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Macedonia. The second meeting of the Committee was held on May 28-31, 2009 in Ohrid.
Contractual and legal framework
Number of valid documents: 46 contractual and legal acts.
Key documents
Agreement on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Macedonia (December 16, 1998)
Agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Macedonia on free trade (January 18, 2001)
Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on the promotion and mutual protection of investments (March 2, 1998)
Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on the conditions for mutual travel of citizens (July 12, 2019).
Important documents that are at the stage of processing
Amendments to the Free Trade Agreement regarding the liberalization of trade in agricultural products and the inclusion of the provisions of the Pan-Euro-Med Convention
Draft Agreement on social security
Ukrainians in North Macedonia
Total number: about 500 people.
Association of Ukrainians: Community of Ukrainians in the Republic of Macedonia “Lesya Ukrainka” (about 60 people).