New British Ambassador to Macedonia Takes Office

“UK will continue financing various projects in Macedonia, one of which is training Macedonian administration workers to achieve greater efficiency”, British Embassy in Skopje told Balkan Insight on Tuesday.

The post in Skopje is Yvon’s first assignment as ambassador.

Yvon started his diplomatic career in 1989, having worked as the deputy chief of the department of international organisations in the British Foreign Office.

He has also worked as vice consul in the British embassy in Riyadh, attaché in Prague and served in the Department of the Foreign Office in Hong Kong.

Yvon succeeds Andrew Key at the ambassadorial office.

After serving as ambassador in Skopje for the last three years, Key will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment, the British Foreign Office said.

Macedonia received the status of EU candidate country in 2005.

The European Council, after reviewing the country’s reforms, recommended last autumn the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia.

However, this was thwarted amid the continuing dispute with Greece, one of the EU and NATO member states, which continues to block Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration saying that the country should change its name first in order to prove it has no territorial claims against Greece’s own northern province, also called Macedonia.

Britain has strongly voiced an urgent need to resolve the dispute.