Macedonia's government decided yesterday to upgrade its liaison office in Prishtina, the Republic of Kosovo to an embassy.

To further nurture the new diplomatic relationship, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Skender HYseni, is expected to pay an official visit Skopje later this week at the invitation of his counterpart, Antonio Milososki. As part of his itinerary, Hyseni is scheduled to meet Macedonian President Djordje Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the Albanian political leaders in FYR of Macedonia.

During the visit, FM Hyseni will finalize the protocols for opening the exchange of embassies and will sign a series of agreements between the relevant ministries of the two countries.

A Macedonian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki will be in Prishtina next week to preside over the opening of their country's embassy.

Accompanying the foreign minister will be the Deputy PM Abdilaqim Ademi, the Minister of Economics, Fatmir Besimi and Ecology Minister, Xhelal Bajrami.

The first Macedonian Ambassador in Kosovo is expected to be Todor Nanev, who served as the chairman of the Macedonian Commission for the demarcation of the border with Kosovo.

The ceremony will be followed the signing of a series of agreements.

The first agreement covers cooperation between the Economics Ministries in the field of energy.  Two others will cover pensions and police cooperation.

The opening of the Embassy of Macedonia in Kosovo was scheduled to occur last week, but was delayed by ministerial meetings in Brussels.

The President of Macedonia, Djordje Ivanov, is expected to visit the Republic of Kosovo for the first time before the end of the month.