Skopje, 2 August 2023 (MIA) — By laying flowers at the Dame Gruev tomb, at the Monument of the Smilevo Ilinden Fighters, and the Memorial plaque of the partisan detachment “Dame Gruev” in the Demir Hisar village of Smilevo, a government delegation consisting of Deputy Minister of Finance Filip Nikolovski and National Coordinator for Interculturalism, One Society, Cultural Development and Interdepartmental Cooperation Robert Alagjozovski paid tribute to the Smilevo fighters whose self-sacrifice was woven into the state's foundations, an official press release said.

According to the relase, the state highly honors the memory of the Smilevo Congress, which made the final decision to organize and raise a national uprising across the entire territory of then Macedonia.

With the laying of flowers at the three Smilevo memorials, a visit to the Smilevo Congress memorial museum and several music performances and cultural events held under the slogan "120 years of Ilinden, the Hearth of the Homeland," the state officials and the public celebrated the national holiday in Smilevo. mr/