Skopje, 21 December 2023 (MIA) — Journalist Mijalche Ivanov and non-fiction author Nenad Georgievski at a ceremony in Parliament on Thursday received the 2023 Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin National Award, an annual prize that champions exceptional journalism and nonfiction.

Zoran Bojarovski presided the panel of judges who decided this year's winners.

In his speech, Georgievski said he was honored to receive the award and pledged to continue his efforts to contribute to culture and society.

"I hope to confirm this award through new releases, new books and new achievements," Georgievski said.

Receiving the prize, Ivanov said his TV show "The Road to Success" was in its 10th year. He also said it had been 25 years since he started his career in journalism.

He added that he wished to see the country on the road to success, so he could make a show representing it as a successful country. "I live for the day," he said, "that I can film 'The Road to Success' in which Macedonia is free and without pressures, in which freedom of expression and reporting are not oppressed."

"Let's make Macedonia a country without envious people, but people who are looking to the future, and may the right system of values come back," he said.

Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin (1922-1968) was a prolific Macedonian journalist, nonfiction writer, and political activist.

He was one of the first editors-in-chief of Nova Makedonija, the oldest daily newspaper in the country.

Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin was also the first president of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, founded in 1946.

The annual journalism and nonfiction award in his name was established a year after his death in 1969. mr/