Director Handjiska-Trendafilova congratulated him on his recent appointment in a meeting with Minister Stefan ANDONOVSKI, the newly appointed Minister of Digital Transformation. She welcomed the increased political focus on digital transformation as essential for prosperous societies and presented ReSPA's dynamic agenda to empower digitally ready governments in the Western Balkans. This agenda addresses regional needs in interoperability, emerging technologies, open data, cybersecurity, and digital competencies.

The Director also provided an overview of ReSPA’s flagship activities, including Digital Summer Schools, cybersecurity training, Interoperability Academies, and the Western Balkans Public Administration Award, encouraging increased participation in the open PA Award call. Minister Andonovski shared the Ministry’s ambitious key priorities, and both parties expressed strong readiness for enhanced collaboration to support digital transformation efforts.

In a separate meeting with Minister Goran MINCHEV, Director Handjiska-Trendafilova congratulated him on his new role, underscoring the importance of mutual collaboration to drive reform progress and accelerate EU integration. She introduced ReSPA’s regionally-focused role in advancing public administration reform (PAR) and EU integration across the Western Balkans and emphasized the need for strengthened regional ownership. She noted that ReSPA’s upcoming activities include hosting the High-Level Regional Ministerial Dialogue in Skopje, focusing on next-generation governance and public service innovation.

Their discussion covered current priorities in public administration modernisation and ReSPA’s comprehensive capacity-building, learning, mobility, on-demand, and horizontal activities planned for the next quarter. Special emphasis was placed on ReSPA’s direct support instruments designed to address current needs. The meeting concluded with a mutual commitment to strengthen collaboration to enhance effective governance and promote regional growth.