Skopje, 2 August 2024 (MIA) – President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova in a Republic Day – Ilinden greeting said it is a holiday of light that reminds us of the fight for free Macedonian republic, which was started by the Ilinden fighters and resumed by the participants in the national liberation and antifascist war. 

“On August 2, 1944, exactly 80 years ago, ASNOM delegates had established the Macedonian state as a republic of national freedom and social justice, of equal citizens ‘irrespective of their nationality, gender, race and religion.’ It is the right and duty of every generation to keep pursuing the fight and renewing the spirit of the Macedonian republic aligning it with the new circumstances and new opportunities,” said Siljanovska Davkova. 

The fight of our generation, she added, preserving the legacy of Ilinden and ASNOM, is to make our Macedonian republic a decent place to live in offering equal chances for progress of all its citizens, a republic taking care of the best, being inclusive, in solidarity with the vulnerable and just towards everyone. 

“We have to invest all our personal and institutional capacities to prevent people leaving the country and to create a future for young people, here, in our common Macedonian homeland. We will win this fight by making the country European, with rule of law and eradicating corruption, with a competitive economy and care for the environment, by uniting for the general good and public interest,” said the President. 

As we mark Ilinden, noted Siljanovska Davkova, the brave firemen, soldiers and volunteers have been battling raging blazes to save our forests, and the lives and properties of our citizens. “Let’s help them and support them and by doing so, to actively take part in the fight for the good of the citizens and the future of the republic.”

“Long live the Macedonian republic,” the President concluded. 

MIA file photo