Dear citizens,
35 years ago, we experienced our third Ilinden, the dawn in which the centuries-old dream of a free and independent Macedonian state finally became a reality. With the historic referendum of 8 September 1991, we, the Macedonian citizens, finalized the work of the Ilinden and ASNOM people, creating our own national and common civic home, regardless of ethnic and religious affiliation.
Today, with deep gratitude and piety, we recall the historical truth that the greatest and most important achievement for one nation is to have its own, sovereign and democratic state, which will protect its freedom, identity and dignity and will work for its prosperity. Now, its survival and its future depend solely on ourselves.
Although proclaimed to last, the independent state is not only a past perfect, but also a present continuous tense. It began with the referendum decision as an important daily, tireless task for each generation to preserve, build and expand.
Macedonian independence rests on three pillars: the first is the trust of every citizen in their own state and in the capacity of its institutions to protect rights, ensure justice and provide equal opportunities for all; the second is the mutual trust between us, the citizens, as a human thread that holds us together, regardless of ethnic, religious, linguistic and any other difference, and the third is – the inexhaustible, sincere and unwavering faith in the Macedonian future.
In a festive, optimistic spirit, let me remind you that the pages of our past and present mark numerous successes in many fields. We have built functional institutions and developed awareness of the common good and the state and national interest. We have created a NATO army that guarantees our security. We have developed and are developing an economy resistant to pressures and open to world markets. We have gained friends and strategic partners supporting us on the long and thorny European path. We have a clear awareness of European belonging and a strategic goal for European membership.
As we celebrate the big day, we once again conclude that over the past three and a half decades we have faced difficult trials, blockages and double standards, which have stimulated unwanted internal processes and problems.
One of the biggest is the emigration of young people in search of a better life. With each departure, a thread in our fabric is broken, and each empty school desk is a silent reminder that we are losing those who were and still are our greatest hope.
The painful truth must not paralyze us, but mobilize us. The state is not a system of institutions. The people are the state. We have a generational responsibility to complete the urgent tasks: to eradicate crime and corruption, to establish an uncompromising rule of law and to build a peaceful and just society of equal and fair citizens, regardless of whether they are Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Serbs, Roma, Bosniaks, etc. The ASNOM Vow teaches us: “WE WILL LIVE IN MACEDONIA WE BUILD”. No one else will design our home; we have to do it for ourselves!
More than ever before, today we need proactive, constructive hope, faith that with our own strength we can and must make things better. Our vision is a stable and progressive European state, but above all, a homeland in which young people will not pack their bags, but will have families and build a future here.
It is time to relativize geography and borders and for a deeper connection with our diaspora, to unite all smart, creative and courageous people of Macedonian origin in building the homeland as a decent, dignified and prosperous common home.
With particular pride and joy, I congratulate you on the great holiday of September 8, the day when Macedonian citizens courageously and responsibly fulfilled the legacy of the Ilinden and ASNOM fighters and democratically, in a referendum, with an overwhelming majority declared themselves for a SOVEREIGN AND INDEPENDENT STATE OF MACEDONIA!
