26 August, 2017
"Regardless of political differences over certain important political and regional matters, Serbia and Macedonia will jointly strive not only to preserve, but to improve friendly relations", it said.
Macedonia and neighboring Serbia have committed to overcome "possible misunderstandings" following a brief spot of diplomatic tension that saw Serbia remove its entire embassy staff from Skopje.
A meeting between Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Dimitrov and his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dačić, is scheduled for tomorrow in Niš.
Dacic said that a part of the embassy staff will return to Macedonia next week, while "ambassador will return later, after we finish all consultations".
Earlier this week, the Serbian embassy staff were withdrawn because of what Vucic called "offensive actions" against Serbia's institutions, something Macedonian authorities denied.
"Scandal: The Macedonians have even spied on Vučić?" was the headline in the scandal rag Informer, the unofficial mouthpiece of the Serbian government.
A former province of Serbia, Kosovo has been independent since 2008, but is not recognized by Belgrade.
Relations between Serbia and Macedonia were soured in April following media reports that a Serbian intelligence officer had been in the Macedonian parliament when protesters stormed the building and beat up several deputies including Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
Serbia has not recognized Kosovo's independence and opposes its attempts to join worldwide organizations.
Macedonia's position to follow the majority of European Union member states when voting on Kosovo membership in UNESCO will "directly impact good neighborly relations", Dacic told Tanjug news agency.
It applied to join UNESCO in 2015, but its application did not secure enough votes.
