English
The state is strengthened through national reconciliation. If we want our country to be a decent place to live, we must overcome divisions and learn to speak with one voice on issues of national interest. We need that more than ever before, was the main message of President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova from her address on the occasion of August 2 Ilinden, in front of the monument to Metodija Andonov – Cento in Skopje.
The state is strengthened through national reconciliation. Cento was criticized for his willingness to reconcile with those who had dissented from the past, provided that they stood on the same, Macedonian line. If we want our country to be a decent place to live, we must overcome divisions and learn to speak with one voice on issues of national interest. We need that more than ever before, President Siljanovska said.
Today, added President Siljanovska Davkova, as we are gathered in front of the monument to one of the greatest Macedonian sons, with members of his family, I believe that it is no coincidence that the sculptor immortalized Metodija Andonov-Cento not in a partisan uniform, but in civilian clothes, as the first citizen of the new Macedonian Republic, as its first president.
And while with his hat he covers the heart that beats for the homeland and the people, with his pointed finger he reminds us of our generational duty to protect and defend the freedom of our country “like the apple of the eye”. And this country, I deeply believe that it is protected by a democratic political system and constitutional patriotism. As an unwavering Macedonian patriot and a convinced democrat, Cento did not deviate from the right to self-determination of the Macedonian people and did not allow interference in the internal affairs of the republic, including respect for the highest state acts by anyone and everywhere. Shouldn’t we be puzzled when it comes to the ASNOM documents and the dozens of amendments to the 1991 Constitution?, said Siljanovska Davkova.
She emphasized that peace and coexistence in a heterogeneous society are maintained by guaranteeing and protecting the rights of communities, but not at the expense of individual human rights if we want to live in a European democracy, emphasizing that ASNOM takes into account the Macedonian multiethnic reality.
Its Manifesto was addressed to all ethnic communities. Even today, we are proud of the high standards of protection of the minority rights of Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Serbs, Roma, Bosniaks and others. Mentioned or not, in the part that precedes the normative text, which is usually called the preamble, all Macedonian citizens enjoy the same rights and have the same obligations established in the normative text, said the president.
She emphasized that the state is preserved by investing in the youth and it was the youth, she pointed out, who fought for freedom and created the state.