Skopje, 13 August 2021 (MIA) – President Stevo Pendarovski in a speech at the “Beyond Ohrid” conference on Friday, commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, mentioned three documents as having played a key role for the future of the country, namely the first constitution adopted on November 17, 1991, the 2001 Ohrid Agreement, and the 2018 Prespa Agreement. The Ohrid Agreement, he said, was praised by the international community. “However, in the country, comments about the accord couldn’t have been any different. Unfortunately, even after 20 years, positions on the agreement usually are in relation to the ethnic origin of the citizens and politicians,” Pendarovski said adding a majority of ethnic Macedonians had considered the agreement one of the biggest security threats to the country in the first years since its signing, fearing it might lead to disintegration of the country. “However, the following years proved that even though the potential of the agreement to strengthen cohesion in the society as a whole was not great, it’s a fact that with each phase of its implementation contributed to reducing internal confrontation along ethnic lines,” said Pendarovski, who was a close associate of two signatories of the agreement. Citing public opinion polls, he said that the Framework Agreement no longer is listed as a security threat. Speaking at the central event marking the 20^th anniversary of the Ohrid Agreement, Pendarovski noted that he hadn’t changed his position on the accord in the past 20 years. “I believed then and I still believe today that it was the best possible agreement of the political leadership as part of the then internal security, political and historical context.” He also referred to the role of the United States and the European Union in 2001 saying several local stakeholders had failed to comprehend the strategy of the key Western actors after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. “There is enough evidence about the role of the US and the EU confirming that since 1991 they have been supporting our independence. At critical crossroads in recent Macedonian history, they were an unmissable factor onto the scene: from joining the UN, signing the Framework Agreement, changing the autocratic regime four years ago, whose values were incompatible with the western democracies,” said President Pendarovski. Exercising ethnic rights without demarking territory make the work of politicians more complex, he noted, adding: “Non-territorial ethnic rights are the only sustainable model in the Balkans because federalization or cantonisation is the sure way toward deeper division, even ethnic cleaning,” Pendarovski said that the agreement had failed in explicitly saying that the two largest communities in the country should work together on key strategic issues. The Ohrid Agreement, the head of state stressed, has stood the test of time, but it’s far from perfect. “Due to the extremely unfavorable dynamic of on-the-ground development, the negotiators had no time to dedicate some time to the rights and status of the smaller ethnic communities. So, rightfully, the agreement has been called binational, which definitely is no advantage of a multicultural society.” “The only successful example of functioning multiethnic democracy in the region to continue to exist we should always keep in mind a paragraph of the Basic Principles of the Framework Agreement, which rejects fully the use of violence for achieving political goals, because only political solutions can guarantee stable and democratic future,” Pendarovski said. He reminded the attendees of a key sentence in the agreement explaining that it is an agreement framework for the future of the Macedonian democracy and for developing integrated relations with the Euro-Atlantic community. “Stability and prosperity of the Republic of North Macedonia depend on our capacity to position the country in the Euro-Atlantic group of nations. An imperative is the liberal and modern vision for our future to gain advantage over narrow, nationalistic policies that had on several occasions undermined the country’s foundations,” the President noted. I am confident, Pendarovski said, that as part of such vision for the future, the reasoning behind the Ohrid Agreement is an advantage rather than an obstacle to our development and prosperity. In addition to President Pendarovski, Friday’s conference, which is the central event marking the 20^th anniversary of the Ohrid Agreement, will see addresses also by PM Zoran Zaev, First Deputy PM Artan Grubi, Speaker Talat Xhaferi and DUI leader Ali Ahmeti. Although invited for being the signatories of the Ohrid Agreement, the event won’t include addresses by former head of state Branko Crvenkovski and former prime minister Ljubcho Georgievski. It has been announced that ex-NATO head George Robertson, ex-EU top official Javier Solana, EU, United States, NATO and OSCE ambassadors will be in attendance.