Delchevo, 19 May 2026 (MIA) - Addressing Tuesday's event marking the 150th anniversary of the Razlovci uprising in the village of Razlovci, Delchevo, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski urged everyone to protect and build the homeland, without allowing anyone to humiliate it. He honored the heroes of the Razlovci uprising, noting that their memory should be eternal, their sacrifice held as a sacred vow, and that Macedonia is eternal. In his speech, he called for unity of state and national interests because, he said, no political difference must be greater than the homeland and no personal ambition must be more important than the future of our children.   

"We are here today, in Razlovci, on this sacred land, to mark 150 years since the Razlovci uprising. We stand tall honoring our history, honoring the sacrifice and the memory of those who, amidst the darkest times, chose the steep and sacred path of freedom," said Mickoski.

The Razlovci uprising, he pointed out, was not only armed resistance, but an awakening of the people's consciousness. "It was the first great outcry of the people that they wanted to live with dignity, freedom and pride. These villages, these hills and mountains gave birth to the thought that the homeland is not just a land, but an ideal for which it is worth suffering, sacrificing and living," PM Mickoski stressed. 

He noted that those people had no state, no powerful armies and great forces to protect them, but they had something that was stronger than any weapon, and that was love for the homeland and faith that their struggle was just.

"And that is precisely why the Razlovci uprising today is not just a historical event. It is the foundation. It is the first spark that will later grow into the great flame of the revolutionary struggle, of Ilinden, the Krushevo Republic, all the victims and all the generations that carried the homeland in their hearts," said Mickoski. 

History is not a story locked in textbooks, it is a living lesson, a warning, a covenant, he added.

"And in bowing before the heroes of Razlovci today, we must understand that their struggle was not only a struggle of that time. That struggle continues today, only in a different form. Today, we do not defend the homeland with a rifle in our hands. Today, we defend it with wisdom, with work, with economic development, with strong institutions, with education, with national unity and with dignified leadership of the state. But the essence remains the same - will we have enough courage to remain ourselves and not allow anyone to decide for us," the PM said. 

Therefore, today, in Razlovci, he pointed out, we must let it be known that this country must not bow to humiliation, concessions and selling out. "This people have suffered too much to allow someone to easily trade in their honor, identity and history," Mickoski said.

According to him, a lesson must be learned from the past. "This country suffered the most when there were people from within who were ready to sell out the state for personal interest. The people must be careful who they entrust their future to. Not to trust those who easily offer themselves for power, and have never shown a willingness to sacrifice themselves for the homeland. To those who talk about patriotism in front of the people, and behind closed doors give gifts and concessions to those who do not mean well to the state," the PM told Tuesday's event in Razlovci.

He added that history has taught us that the state is not lost all at once, but that it is lost step by step, when someone starts to give up dignity, truth, and the people. "And that is why today our obligation is to be wise, to be vigilant and not to allow anyone to sell it again as a cheap political coin," said Mickoski.

This state, he noted, was not created with agreements behind closed doors, but was created with sacrifices, with the blood of the revolutionaries, the Ilinden fighters and all those who believed throughout the centuries that freedom must exist.

"We are a small people, in terms of numbers, but a great people with boundless soul. A people that has gone through divisions, injustices, wars and denials, and yet survived. And that is why no one has the right to underestimate the strength of the people," he said.

Mickoski underlined that our generation has a duty to build a state that will be worthy of the sacrifice of those people, a state which young people will want to stay in, a state with justice, with order, with an economy that will open up opportunities, a state that will not live from the past, but will build the future on the foundations of its history.

"We must unite around state and national interests. Because no political difference must be greater than the homeland. No personal ambition must be more important than the future of our children," said the PM.

When we look at these mountains and these villages, he pointed out, we should remember that this country survived because every generation had people who were ready to stand in its defense. 

"Times may be different today, but our duty remains the same," PM Mickoski stressed. 

Minister of Culture Zoran Ljutkov said the heroes of Razlovci did not defeat the empire, but they defeated silence.

"If it weren't for the small and unsuccessful uprisings, there would have been no great victories. Razlovci is exactly such a village, which dared to speak with eternity a century and a half ago," said Ljutkov.

A people that preserves its own memory, he stressed, also preserves its future.

About Mden 20 million have been invested in the reconstruction of the Razlovci uprising memorial.

Delchevo Mayor Ivan Gocevski said a citizens' initiative will be submitted to protect Razlovci as a historical entity, and to declare May 19 a non-working day.

Numerous delegations laid fresh flowers in front of the reconstructed Razlovci uprising memorial at Tuesday's event marking the 150th anniversary of the Razlovci uprising.

Photo: print screen