CULTURAL HERITAGE: - Macedonian Information Centre

5 - lidija toPuzovSka
affirmation of the different cultural identities via jointly coordinated projects
is the planning of a high quality development policy in the region.
By emphasizing the new spirit of regional cooperation with
continual regional meetings on the level of presidents of states and on
the level of ministers of culture, as well as the formation of an expert
net and long-lasting strategic program in all the areas of culture, all the
limiting definitions will be eliminated and the inter-cultural processes
and sustainable development will be promoted in the region.
In the frameworks of the UNESCO and the Council of Europe,
the Republic of Macedonia is making efforts to improve the cooperation
with the member states in South-East Europe with an active involvement
in their program initiatives.
Our country, although small and with tempestuous history and rich
cultural tradition, with a peaceful nation that always extends a friendly
hand for cooperation with the neighbors, with Europe, and with all the
countries in the world, consistently follows the idea of the European
Union and UNESCO for a world with less limitations.
In the frameworks of the cooperation with UNESCO, the Ministry
of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia was the host of the Third
Ministerial Conference on Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe,
as a continuation of the previously held two conferences in Mostar (2004)
and Venice (2005) on the topic Cultural Heritage: a Bridge Towards a
Shared Future.
The Conference was held on 3 and 4 November 2006 in Ohrid, in
Metropol Hotel.
As the previous two conferences, the Third Conference was also
organized with the help of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science
and Culture – BRESCE, with its Headquarters in Venice, and the Italian
Government.
The following ministers of culture of South-East Europe participated
in the Conference: Albania – Mr. Bujar Leskaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
– Mr. Safet Halilovic, Bulgaria – Ms. Ina Kileva, deputy minister, Croatia
– Mr. Bozo Biskupic, Montenegro – Mr. Predrag Malbasa, deputy minister,
Serbia – Ms. Liljana Sop, state secretary, Romania – Mr. Adrian Lemeni,
state secretary, Moldova – Mr. Artur Cozma, and Macedonia- Mr. Ilirijan
Bekiri , Ms. Françoise Rivier, UNESCO Assistant Director General
for Culture, Mrs. Marie-Paule Roudil, head of the UNESCO Regional
Bureau Department for Culture – BRESCE in Venice, together with
representatives of the Department, the Minister of Culture and Deputy
President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic – Mr.
Francesco Rutelli.
The following member countries of the Stability Pact had their
observers at the Conference: France, Greece, Lithuania, Slovenia,