The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) strongly encourages Macedonia to rethink its diaspora voting strategies, policies and business practices in order to generate much wider support from the Macedonian diaspora worldwide, especially in Australia, and in relation to quality parliamentary representation, legitimacy and connection between the state, MPs from the diaspora and other key stakeholders.
“The current diaspora voting model is only attracting less than 1% of the global diaspora. It is not necessarily attracting the best and brightest candidates for the highly sensitive role of diaspora MP whose task is to build relations with key stakeholders in Australia and Macedonia at parliamentary, community, research and business levels,” said UMD Australia Director Ordan Andreevski.
“Macedonia and its diaspora deserve better and can achieve much better democratic outcomes through quality systems of engagement, communication and cooperation based on mutual respect and strategic partnerships. United we can advance Macedonian democracy and enhance the sustainability of Macedonian civilisation and culture in the world,” concluded Andreevski.
In a meeting with Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki this morning in Washington, D.C., UMD urged the Foreign Ministry to open consulate generals in Los Angeles, and in Perth and Sydney in Australia, given the large size of the Macedonian communities in those cities. Furthermore, UMD strongly believes in the advancing opportunities of foreign investments that can be attracted from these locations to Macedonia by opening up consulate generals in these cities.