The 90-day pause in foreign development assistance ordered by US President Donald Trump will not affect the country’s institutions, according to PM Hristijan Mickoski.
“I don’t think there will be state institutions affected by this decision by President Trump. However, we’re carrying out an analysis. We will see, and we will be adopting a strategy and conclusions,” he stated on Tuesday.
Asked by Telma which institutions currently implemented projects with US assistance and how many, the Government said that throughout the years, a series of projects had been supported by the strategic partner, including ones to advance capacities of institutions, encourage economic development, and strengthen security. However, there was no concrete answer in terms of which institutions and projects it was about.
The “exceptional” cooperation in many areas, the Government added, also includes technical support of exceptional importance. It underlined it strongly believed cooperation would proceed and be deepened in the future too.
Telma has learned that the Government and Ministries of Agriculture, Education, Environment, and Transport are some of the state institutions that are beneficiaries of US assistance. The TV station asked the Defense Ministry whether Trump’s decision would impact also assistance with regards to procurement of weapons and training of North Macedonia’s soldiers.
However, in its news programme at 9:30 pm on Tuesday, it said it hadn’t received an answer up to that point. Judicial institutions and local self-government are beneficiaries too.
The Association of Local Self-Government Unites has said that currently, only one project is being carried out with American assistance, through USAID. It started in 2021 and is supposed to end this year, while it covers all municipalities in the country. The project aims to support capacities for better management of finances by municipalities.