President Stevo Pendarovski omitted mentioning the name of the country in the Ilinden message he used in his social media accounts.

I congratulate you August 2nd, the day of the Republic… Long may we celebrate it. Long live the Republic!, Pendarovski said, in a highly unusual move in which he exclaimed in honor of the country without naming it.

In his remarks at the historic site of Meckin Kamen in Krusevo, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev insisted that the Iliden Uprising was a cry for what is now North Macedonia. Just like Pendarovski’s omission of the name of the country, Zaev’s claim that the Ilinden fighters fought for “North Macedonia” prompted much condemnation on the social media.