Estonian Ambassador to Macedonia Presents Credentials

12.09.2012

Nr 322-E

On Monday, 10 September, the new Estonian ambassador to Macedonia* Arti Hilpus presented his credentials to President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov. Ambassador Hilpus resides in Tallinn.

Estonian Ambassador Arti Hilpus passed along congratulatory greetings from President Toomas Hendrik Ilves to President Gjorge Ivanov in honour of Macedonia’s independence day. Macedonia celebrated its independence day on 8 September.

In his speech, Ambassador Hilpus expressed hope that the good relations between Estonia and Macedonia would grow even closer. “Macedonia is Estonia’s most active partner in the Western Balkans. We would like to focus on strengthening economic ties. Estonian entrepreneurs have expressed interest in co-operation in the IT sector, for example,” said Ambassador Hilpus.

Ambassador Hilpus said that Estonia has supported starting EU accession negotiations with Macedonia in accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission. “Therefore Macedonia should progress more quickly with its integration,” noted the Estonian ambassador.

Hilpus also confirmed Estonia’s support for the continuation of NATO’s open-door policy. “Macedonia has made significant progress in carrying out political, economic, and security-related reforms. We hope that Macedonia and other candidate countries will become NATO members in the future. A stronger security environment is in the interests of the entire alliance,” said Ambassador Hilpus.

Ambassador Arti Hilpus was born in Elva in 1972, graduated from the history department of Tartu University and completed the international course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Arti Hilpus has worked at the Foreign Ministry since 1996, serving as the director of the human resources division and the director of the division for the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy. Hilpus worked in the Estonian Embassy in Berlin as the first secretary for political affairs from 2001-2004 and following that he was the director of the security policy division in the Foreign Ministry’s first political department. As of 2009 Hilpus was the Estonian ambassador to Norway and Iceland, residing in Oslo.

Photo: http://tinyurl.com/clhbbkt

*Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia