The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Holocaust Memorial Centre for the Jews of Macedonia, organized a commemorative event, featuring Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, Fatmire Isaki; the Minister of Diaspora Affairs of the State of Israel-Jerusalem, Nachman Shai; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel-Jerusalem, Yair Lapid; the Minister of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bisera Kovacevska-Stojcevska; the President of the Jewish Community in the Republic of North Macedonia, R. Helman-Denkovska; the European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina Von Schnurbein; and the Ambassadors of Greece, the United States and the State of Israel.
The event program included the discussions on:
1. The Republic of North Macedonia — 35th member country of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), addressing Holocaust distortion and combating antisemitism and the IHRA role in these fields;
2. The Republic of North Macedonia: measures and activities to address Holocaust distortion and combat antisemitism.
3. A commemorative event on the occasion of 27 January organized by the State Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of the Albanians — Skopje (ISCHA)
The opening ceremony paid respect to the Holocaust victims by Mr. Jovan Tegovski, National Coordinator and Head of the Delegation of the Republic of North Macedonia to IHRA Introductory and addresses H.E. Mrs. Fatmire Isaki, Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Guest speakers:
- H.E. Dr. Nachman Shai, Minister of Diaspora Affairs of the State of Israel-Jerusalem (video message)
- H.E. Mr. Yair Lapid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel-Jerusalem (video message)
- H.E. Mrs. Bisera Kovacevska - Stojcevska, Minister of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia
- Mrs. Radojka Helman-Denkovska, President of the Assembly of the Jewish Community in the Republic of North Macedonia
- H.E. Mr. Roussos Koundouros, Ambassador of Greece, as representative of the Greek Presidency with IHRA, to the Republic of North Macedonia
- Mr. Eric Meyer, Deputy-Head of Mission, Embassy of the United States to the Republic of North Macedonia
- Mrs. Katharina Von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life-Brussels (online)
- H.E. Mrs. Simona Frankel, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of North Macedonia
4. Jerusalem (online) Thematic Panel Discussion
The Republic of North Macedonia — 35th member country of the IHRA, addressing Holocaust distortion and combating antisemitism and the IHRA role in these fields:
- The importance of the IHRA membership for the Republic of North Macedonia by Mr. Jovan Tegovski, National Coordinator and Head of the Delegation of the Republic of North Macedonia to IHRA
- IHRA role in the broader international context and its activities on combating Holocaust distortion and antisemitism by Mr. Lennart Aldick, Deputy Secretary-General of IHRA, Berlin
- Good practices and experiences of other IHRA members states and international partners, addressing Holocaust distortion and combating antisemitism by Mrs. Richelle Budd-Caplan, Director, International Relations and Project Department, Yad Vashem-Jerusalem (online); Mr. Mikolaj Wrzecionkowski, Adviser on Combating Anti-Semitism at OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human rights-ODIHR-Warsaw (online); Mr. Ernest Herzog, Executive Director, Operations, World Jewish Congress representative in the Balkans-Zagreb (online)
- Measures and activities on combating Holocaust distortion and antisemitism
Moderator: Mrs. Afrodita Davko, Bureau for Development of the Education, member of the Delegation of the Republic of North Macedonia to IHRA
Official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the North Macedonia: http://mfa.gov.mk
