With a series of festivities and events under the slogan “The Struggle Continues,” today marks the 121st anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising and the Krushevo Republic, as well as the 80th anniversary of the First Session of ASNOM. The central event to commemorate Ilinden – Republic Day will be held in Kruševo at Gumenje and in the Mechkin Kamen area, where Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski will deliver an address. Beforehand, he will lay flowers on the grave of Nikola Karev, at the Sliva monument, and at Mechkin Kamen.

President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova will address the event in Pelince, where she will lay flowers in front of the ASNOM Memorial Center and visit the memorial room in the Memorial Center. As part of the celebration, the ensemble for folk dances and songs “Dance” will perform. Subsequently, along with her Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić, Siljanovska Davkova will visit the “St. Prohor Pčinjski” monastery, where the First Session of ASNOM was held. At noon, the two presidents will jointly tour the church in the monastery complex, hold a meeting, and then address the media and guests present.

The state-church delegation attending the celebration at the “St. Prohor Pčinjski” monastery includes Vice-President of the Assembly Vesna Bendevska, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Relations between the Communities Ivan Stoilkovic, Macedonian Ambassador in Belgrade Nikola Tupanceski, representatives of the Union of Fighters Naum Burevski and Snezhana Nestorovska, and Metropolitan Grigorij of Kumanovo-Osogovski.

The President of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi, will lay flowers in front of the monument of the President of the Presidium of ASNOM, Metodija Andonov Cento, in the square “Macedonia” in Skopje and will address the event held in front of the Assembly building. A SDSM party delegation, led by President Venko Filipče, will also lay flowers at the same locations.

Parliament delegations and delegations from the President’s Office will also lay flowers in front of the memorials in Kruševo, Pelince, and Skopje.

The celebration of the 121st anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising and the Krushevo Republic began yesterday in Kruševo, with delegations visiting the Memorial House of the Smilev Congress and the monument of Damjan Gruev. In the afternoon, horsemen from all over Macedonia gathered in front of the “St. Nicholas” church in the center of Kruševo. Simultaneously, the event “10 Days of the Krushevo Republic” was inaugurated with the reading of the Krushevo Manifesto and the raising of the Krushevo Republic flag.