“It’s time for a new spring of our Republic, a return to the republican roots”, President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said in her address at the event marking Ilinden Uprising Day and Day of the Republic, held at Meckin Kamen in Krusevo.
She added that citizens expected justice and freedom, stressing the time had come to root out the tare of corruption and crime in the country. The President used part of her address to criticise the EU, saying it had allowed, in the previous period, bilateralisation of enlargement. Often, she underlined, it has changed rules according to which a candidate is required to meet membership conditions.
The President accused the EU of having double standards in the accession process. At the marking of 2 August in Skopje, PM Hristijan Mickoski stated that Ilinden was a living reminder of the aspiration for freedom, justice, and an own country, as well as of the courage of generations that had fought for an independent and dignified country.
“Let this day remind us of the sacrifice left behind by the generations in order for our generation to be able to have what we have today, which is a free and independent country of Macedonia”, he noted.
From Skopje, Mickoski again visited and laid flowers in Tasmarunista.
“I haven’t forgotten about the people with an open heart and clean thoughts with whom we have marked the Ilinden holiday for multiple years in a row”, he underlined.
Deputy Speaker Vesna Bendevska headed Parliament’s delegation during the visit to Pelince, instead of Speaker Afrim Gashi, who didn’t do so for health reasons. Also, she visited St. ProhorPcinjski Monastery in Serbia.
At both locations, she sent the same message, that is, that the two dates, 2 August 1903, and 2 August 1944 (when the first ASNOM session was held), represented a legacy and obligation for all citizens.
“Macedonia must return to the Krusevo and ASNOM ideals”, she added. The holiday was also marked at numerous other locations, including in Trnovo.