Skopje, 8 September 2025 (MIA) - Independence Day-September 8 is observed Monday under slogan "Dream to Reality, for Eternity" including a formal academy addressed by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.

Parliament delegation led by Vice-Speaker Antonio Miloshoski will law wreaths at the graves of Presidents Kiro Gligorov and Boris Trajkovski, and first Prime Minister Nikola Kljusev.

The observances started with a gun salute in Ilinden army barracks late on Sunday.

On Friday, Joshko Milenkoski, Hamid Bakija, Zoran Nikolovski, Viktor Tevchev and Kiril Manev received the September 8 National Award given to athletes, coaches and sports workers for their achievements in sports.

At the reception held in the Parliament ahead of Independence Day, Speaker Afrim Gashi delivered a message of unity, cohesion, and a vision for the future of North Macedonia. In his address, Gashi stressed the importance of genuine unity between the citizens, respect for differences and building a shared future without divisions.

“The main message I want to send on this Independence Day is about unity. As a young country, we need many things, but above all I think what we need most is unity. Not uniform or convenient unity, but genuine unity. The kind that respects differences and turns them into richness, not division. Each of us should feel a responsibility not to encourage division, but to build bridges, to use differences not as a wall, but as a window through which we see each other more closely,” Gashi said.

On September 8, 1991, an overwhelming majority of citizens – over 95 percent – said they were ‘in favor of an independent Macedonia with the right to join a future alliance of sovereign Yugoslav states’.

The referendum was preceded by the Declaration of Independence passed on Jan. 25, 1991 by the first multi-party Macedonian Parliament.

The will of the people for an independent state was confirmed with the Declaration on the Acceptance of Referendum Results on Sept. 18, 1991 in the Macedonian Parliament.

The next important step in the strengthening of the new state was the adoption of the Constitution on Nov. 17, 1991.

Today, North Macedonia is an independent and sovereign state, recognized by its neighbors, and a member of NATO that is about to start negotiating with the EU to join.

On March 27, 2020, North Macedonia officially joined NATO after the national assemblies of its 29 members passed the country’s membership ratification.

In the past three decades, the country has gone through a myriad of difficulties. A triple-digit inflation in the early 1990s, the Greek embargo, the Kosovo refugee crisis and the 2001 conflict were serious challenges and threats for the young Macedonian state hindering its path in accomplishing the strategic goals – strengthening of democracy, economic development and integration with the Euro-Atlantic institutions.

The country’s Euro-Atlantic integration path was opened by the signing of the Prespa Agreement on June 17, 2018, solving the decades-long name dispute with Greece, which had blocked the country’s EU membership aspirations.

North Macedonia, despite all obstacles, remains on its European path, and according to all political stakeholders in the country, expects to solve the misunderstandings soon and fulfill its strategic goals of joining the EU, strengthening democracy, and developing its economy.

MIA file photo