Civil society representatives from Macedonia and Greece held a summit meeting in Thessaloniki on Sept 30-Oct 1, 2017, under the auspices of the Columbia University, Program on Peace-Building and Rights, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, chaired by David L. Phillips, and decided to intensify dialogue and establish a CBM Fund under an International Advisory Board supervision.
Over two days, representatives of NGOs from the two neighboring countries, led by Prof Dr Zoran Ilievski, President of EWB Macedonia, and Dimitris Keridis, Director of the Greek Navarino Network, discussed work in the fields of municipal local government, business and trade promotion, university partnerships and faculty and student exchanges, think tank research, environment, pollution control, water resource management and culture.
In the closing Chairmen's Statement, the panelists highlighted their resolve to intensify dialogue among civil society representatives of the two countries which have a decades-long dispute over Macedonia's name, aimed at achieving practical benefits for civil society and creating conditions conducive for progress on political negotiations.