The OSCE Chairpersonship will conclude with the largest conference that has ever been organized in Macedonia. Over 70 ministers of foreign affairs will arrive in Skopje, from the foreign affairs departments of the US, Russia, all European countries and Asian countries, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani at a media briefing Wednesday, at which he announced that the OSCE Chairpersonship will cost the country five million euro.

The preparations, as the minister said, have already begun in earnest, because the OSCE has a certain rulebook on the standards that must be met. Osmani said that they believe that “Boris Trajkovski” sports center can meet the security needs for holding this conference.

This is not PR money. The chairmanship of the OSCE will end with the largest conference ever organized in the country. Over 70 foreign ministers will come here. We don’t even have a suitable facility in which to organize that event, but we decided that with appropriate additions it could be held in the “Boris Trajkovski” sports center. We don’t even have enough vehicles to transport the dignitaries and now we are looking for ways to organize that. The benefits of the chairmanship are greater than these costs and we entered into this big investment knowingly because it is a big promotion for the state, said Osmani.

However, the minister believes that the benefits of the presidency will be much greater than the costs we have.

Believe me, we have expenses every day. We have a big mission in Vienna, over 11 people, maybe each of them spends so much annually to house, in terms of salaries, but this is an investment that we consciously entered into and this is prestige and great recognition for the state. For 56 countries to choose you by consensus to chair the organization in the most difficult year for the organization is a great privilege and opportunity. So yes, there will be big costs along the way, we will try to keep them to a minimum, but yes, there will be costs, said Osmani.

He added that they are looking for ways to find sponsors in terms of vehicles for the ministers, so that we don’t have any expenses. Some costs, he says, will depend on whether we find sponsors.