Skopje, 13 November 2024 (MIA) - An international academic conference "Anti-Fascism Between Memory and Oblivion," in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the First Session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM), began with an opening ceremony at the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for Independence on Wednesday. The conference will last through Sunday. 

Director of the Institute of National History - Skopje, Mitko Panov, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) Rector, Biljana Angelova, President of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU), Zhivko Popov, Director of the State Archives, Natasha Kotlar-Trajkova, as well as Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, delivered opening remarks, which was followed by opening and viewing of an exhibition.

The Prime Minister in his address said the meeting was held in commemoration of the 80th anniversary since the first session of ASNOM, "one of the brightest moments in our recent history, when our ancestors made important decisions that enabled us to rise as a people and as a country." 

"This institution - ASNOM, is an indelible mark of the Macedonian struggle, the most sacred proof that the Macedonian nation was created with a lot of toil and huge sacrifices," the PM noted.

He said that decisions should be made very wisely today, in order to achieve goals. He then mentioned what he had encountered as head of the Macedonian Government over the past five months.

"Only a strong demography, an economically developed state, and defending what has been lost on the table over the past seven years can take us to where we need to be and where we aim to be as a nation," he pointed out. 

The Director of the Institute of National History - Skopje, Panov, said that ASNOM obliges us to continue the covenant of the people of Ilinden and not to deviate from the traditions and historical heritage, which they stood by while building the state. Because, he underlined, Ilinden is not only our Macedonian past, but our post-history.

"Therefore, we must be worthy of our ASNOM citizens and proudly hoist the flag of Goce Delchev and our Ilinden even higher, because the Ilinden epic is the determination not to be a slave to anyone, to live as a free people," he pointed out.  

Panov noted among other that ASNOM calls on us to respect each other, so that we can be respected by others as a state, people and nation.

UKIM Rector Angelova stressed that ASNOM is the foundation for the country's institutional and overall development, which also includes the oldest state university "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje.

"While the country continues to deal with the challenges on its path to the EU and with all global challenges, more than ever before, the principles and ideals of ASNOM must remain embedded in the essence of all future decisions, because they are the basis of Macedonian national identity and statehood," Angelova underlined.

MANU President Popov said the international conference marks the 80th anniversary of the holding of the first session of ASNOM and thus, in fact, "we are continuing the tradition on the occasion of this most significant event in the recent history of the Macedonian people, to hold scholarly gatherings every 10 years dedicated to ASNOM and the development and preservation of the statehood of the Macedonian people."

He expressed hope that it will remain so in the future, pointing out that this is the seventh scholarly gathering on that occasion.

Commenting on the path to European Union membership, Popov said the Macedonian people have become an example of peaceful coexistence with neighboring countries.

"Friendship, readiness to cooperate and have open dialogue with everyone, especially with neighboring countries, was not always reciprocated in an appropriate way. On the contrary, some of them showed misunderstanding and irrational behavior towards Macedonia. The Euroscepticism that has recently developed is the result of the obstacles that the EU has unfairly placed on our European path on several occasions, which mostly relate to the internationally undertaken obligations in connection with the agreements with Greece and with Bulgaria, which at the least, were referendum questions, but we did not treat them as such, the consequences of which are evident. For them, the country made painful compromises, changing first the state flag, and then the state's inviolable name, which partially violated the ideals and principles of ASNOM," Popov said among other. 

But despite that, he stressed, "the opening of the negotiating process with the EU has failed to come about."

"Nevertheless, we should be aware that only through equal dialogue and cooperation with the neighbors and the European Union can reasonable and acceptable solutions be found for the problems created, while preserving the cultural and historical heritage that belongs to the Macedonian people as a European value. But despite all the obstacles, the Macedonian state today is definitely a historical reality with a confirmed full historical identity and international state legal legitimacy, which, in a dignified manner, must courageously continue along the European path set," said Popov. 

Head of the State Archives, Kotlar-Trajkova, said that the Archives, as a treasure of historical heritage and a scientific research institution, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary, decided to focus on the state-making history of the Macedonian people presented through ASNOM and its public display, through a thematic exhibition.

The material for the exhibition, she added, comes from the "ASNOM" fund, which is registered in the State Archives and includes 22 archival boxes of which only a part is published in seven books, i.e. about 4,000 pages.

"This documentary treasure testifies that ASNOM, the second Ilinden, remains the most significant page of the Macedonian new history and an inspiration in the further writing of national history," Kotlar-Trajkova noted.

Photo and video: MIA