Skopje, 24 December 2025 (MIA) - Macedonia is a developing country today, a home where there is a place for all its people, both those who are here and those who have left abroad. We need every Macedonian who wants to contribute to the homeland. We need everyone who has learned something abroad and is ready to invest it at home. We need everyone who believes that this country can and must be a better place to live in. Today we send a message through your example, calling on all people born in Macedonia who are now abroad to move back to their home country, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a forum of returnees to the country taking place in the Government on Wednesday. 

He said he was addressing people of major importance to society, who know their homeland both inside and out, people who have left, not because they wanted to leave their homeland, but because life, time and circumstances have forced them to seek better conditions, security and perspective. Most importantly, he stressed, people who have returned to their home country and started a new success story here.

"Your return is not a symbolic gesture, but vital necessity. It is a message that Macedonia is not forgotten, that the roots run deep, and the love for the homeland does not go away regardless of years and distance. I want to say clearly and sincerely - we cannot be angry with those who have left, we understand them. We understand their pain, struggle and difficult decisions. We know that many left because they had no choice. But no matter how far a person goes, the heart remains tethered, because, as our people wisely say - a stone is heavy on its own turf," said Mickoski.

He believes that no matter how successful Macedonians are abroad, and wherever they may be, they will always be foreigners.

"Only at home you are truly yourself, only at home your name, your work and your story have deep roots and lasting value. Those of you here today are living proof of that. You have shown that the knowledge and experience gained abroad are not lost when you return home, but rather gain meaning, becoming the foundation for new businesses, new jobs, ideas and new energy in our economy. The country today is not a country that stands still. Macedonia is changing and developing. The economy is growing, investments are being made in industry, energy, and infrastructure. Roads, factories, capacities that bring added value are being built. Space is being opened for entrepreneurship, for innovations for young people, for those who want to invest and create a home," the Macedonian PM said. 

It is the obligation of the Government, he added, to create conditions, to ensure stability, legal certainty, support for investments and a clear direction for development.

"Yet, no strategy, no plan can succeed without people. A state is not built only with institutions but with minds, with knowledge, experience, with the courage to take responsibility. Therefore, we assert that we need every Macedonian who wants to contribute to the homeland. We need everyone who has learned something abroad and is ready to invest it at home. We need everyone who believes that this country can and must be a better place to live in. Today we send a message through your example, calling on all people born in Macedonia who are now abroad to move back to their home country. We understand you, we respect you and our doors are wide open to you," he said. 

He added that this was not a promise of an easy way, but an opportunity to be part of something bigger.

"A chance for work not only as personal success, but contribution to the community and future generations. Our home is not perfect, it is built, repaired and improved. And our common Macedonia is exactly that, a home that is being built and a home where there is a place for all its people. You are proof that it can be done, you are an example that returning means strength, and you are the voice that can best tell others that a stone has more weight on its own turf," PM Mickoski pointed out. 

The forum resumed with addresses by Macedonians who have returned to the country, as well as representatives from several institutions.

Photo: MIA