President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is on a working visit to the Municipality of Resen today. As part of the visit, she met with Mayor Jovan Tozievski, members of the Municipal Council and the citizens of Resen.
They introduced her to local problems, and, in particular, the issues of migration and the outflow of young people from Resen and the Prespa region were emphasized. The importance of the “EU for Prespa” project was also stressed, through which significant funds are invested for the development of Resen, one of the municipalities that has the greatest benefit from the European funds.
In a direct conversation with the citizens, Siljanovska-Davkova listened to the remarks and proposals on everyday economic, infrastructure and social issues, emphasizing that active dialogue with citizens is the foundation of responsible and transparent governance.
The President will also visit several cultural institutions, as well as the Swisslion Agroplod – Resen production facility. This emphasizes the importance of cultural tradition and the encouragement of economic activity as a driver of local development.
The afternoon session is dedicated to a debate with representatives of non-governmental organizations, local and national institutions, with a focus on environmental challenges and the preservation of Lake Prespa as a natural and national treasure.
The following is the integral statement of the President given after some of the meetings in Resen.
Resen indeed should be visited much more often, not only by presidents, but by everyone. Not only because of its beauty, not only because of its history, not only because of coexistence, not only because of the lake, not only because of the rare birds, not only because of the palace, not only because of Tatarchev, not only because of Nade Proeva. I am glad to be here. Why did I start my so-called tour from Resen? It is no coincidence, because the main reason was the care for the Lake Prespa. Of course, I saw data stating that the main reason is not the enormous and uncontrolled use of water, but rather subsidence, i.e. in nature, we have had such situations before in history. But, from the conversation with the Mayor, I understood that this city has a future, it just needs more support. The EU project for Prespa is truly not only inspiring, but also a thorough project, how to activate or reactivate tourism, agriculture, economy, dealing with landfills, and indeed some of these solutions, I think, have been applied for the first time and can be a model in the future. What else needs to be done? – We need to take a strategic approach in terms of cultural development, and also in terms of economic development, and even in medical tourism. Ohrid is here, Resen is here, the lakes are here, we really have to build a strategy to make young people stay here. Fortunately, artificial intelligence and digitalization make it possible to live here and work elsewhere, but that requires a step forward.
