The Republic of Macedonia in spite of all the blockades remains firmly committed to EU and NATO membership. The name issue that has been a burden for us for two decades could be resolved if the UN resolutions, the Interim Accord and the judgment of the International Court of Justice are respected. If they are not observed and attempts are made to encroach on the issue of identity, dignity and human rights, then a solution is not possible.

This was stated, amongst other things, by President Gjorge Ivanov in an interview with the Macedonian Information Agency - MIA.

Macedonia, Ivanov says, plays a constructive role and is seeking solution with the assistance of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz because "we are those who suffer the consequences from the behavior of our southern neighbor since the country doesn't have to face any consequences and could block us for another 100 years."

President Ivanov expects the EU leaders at the June summit to finally reach the well-deserved decision for opening of accession talks with Macedonia. He voices hopes that a solution will be also found involving the establishment of a commission to clarify the events of 24 December 2012.

The Macedonian President in the interview with MIA notes that Macedonia's international position nowadays is far better than it was several years ago. Referring to good neighborly relations and regional cooperation, Ivanov announces the summit of heads of state or government from countries included in the SEE Cooperation Process on June 1 in Ohrid and the Dialogue among Civilizations, due to take place the following day in the Struga village of Kalista.


You have been at the helm of the Republic of Macedonia for four years. How do you rate your execution of the presidential duties so far. What kind of challenges have you been facing?

First of all, it was a true challenge to put my academic career on hold and enter the turbulent waters of politics, especially the Macedonian politics. All of these years I have remained consistent to my vision presented in my inauguration address four years ago. Macedonia to open itself towards the neighbours, to follow the course of all the changes taking place in the region as well as the changes around the globe and simply to create a perception for ourselves from ourselves without letting others to talk about us and establish qualifications about who we are and what we are.

If we draw a comparison of our region now and what it was like 10 or 20 years ago, an immense change has taken place. Now, this new environment requires a fresh rhetoric, fresh initiatives and projects, new infrastructure - a new approach towards ourselves and towards others in the region. Therefore, we cannot analyze the situation in Macedonia only from Macedonia's point of view, it has to be reviewed in a broader context. As a result, the efforts I am making in line with my constitutional jurisdiction and in line with the shared jurisdiction with the government, aim at opening the perspectives of the current generation and of those who will succeed us. The effects of the activities conducted thus far are being felt now, other effects will be felt in the future and the benefits will be enjoyed by future generations.

I think that the biggest challenge for those living in Macedonia and in the region is how to get rid of prejudices, fears and stereotypes from the past. How to abandon that black and white world of friends and foes and how to come to terms with reality that life is short and it's not worth to waste our lives fighting and envying each other.

Therefore, these past four years have been marked with changing the idea of politics itself in Macedonia. Simply, motivated by my academic and life experience, I had a personal objective to restore the dignity of Macedonia's politics. I wanted with a personal example to show that honorable people can be politicians - that through personal contacts and initiatives one can give a contribution to what is considered general well-being. That kind of working style, being open and responsible, is yielding results. This was in fact recognized by the citizens, which can be seen in recent public opinion polls.

My associates and I aim at bringing the institution of President of Macedonia closer to the citizens. Consequently, we have opened national offices in many cities across the country. We wanted to dedicate ourselves to young people, which is why we have inaugurated the School of Young Leaders. We are trying to make up for everything that has been neglected in the past. All individuals and institutions that have done something magnificent and useful for the country of great state interest are adequately rewarded and dedicated, regardless of whether they are involved in science, politics, business, culture and sports. We almost never miss a jubilee without giving it a special significance. All those who have contributed to Macedonia are welcome in the President's cabinet.

We really live in a world that is changing quickly. The sooner we become aware of it, the better in order to use all those changes to promote Macedonia and to benefit from them. We strive to use them for prosperity and development. We are tired from destruction and negative processes and want to leave them behind and forget about them.


What is your assessment about Macedonia's international position in the past four years of your presidency?

The Republic of Macedonia is becoming more visible on the international map and more respected on the international political scene. If we start comparing the period before 2009 and today and look at the number of organized meetings, participation in international events and concrete activities, it won't be immodest to draw a conclusion that the international position of Macedonia has been noticeably improved.

Just to illustrate - in the past four years I had 90 official and working visits to countries abroad and took part in international events. 38 heads of state came to Macedonia in official, working and informal visits. Statistics complied by my associates show that I have had 377 meetings with heads of state, government, parliament and top officials of international organizations. Almost every meeting has resulted in some kind of activity, initiative or enhanced cooperation. I have also been part of numerous forums and summits or lectures at universities, honorary doctorates, awards and recognitions.

Nowadays, Macedonia has many more friends around the world than four years ago. In addition to our strategic objectives for NATO and EU membership, we have also opened new horizons for cooperation in the world, namely with Qatar, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia... My intensive agenda at international level is no coincidence, because it needs to be made up for lost time. Friendships and personal ties alleviate relations and cooperation.

The Republic of Macedonia in spite of all the blockades remains firmly committed to EU and NATO membership.

As a supreme commander, I pay special attention to the Macedonian Army (ARM) and its participation into international peace missions. By taking active part in peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Lebanon, we have earned the trust of our international partners. The Macedonian flag is present and respected in international missions.

If we review the overall situation, I believe we have made a breakthrough. Macedonia successfully served as holder of the Council of Europe chairmanship, we presided over several international initiatives.

My focus in the past several years since becoming a president is on good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation. In this context I can announce the upcoming summit of heads of state or government from countries included in the SEE Cooperation Process on June 1 in Ohrid and the Dialogue of Civilisations, due to take place the following day in the Struga village of Kalista.


What is the significance of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) for Macedonia and are you satisfied with Macedonia's chairmanship?

Macedonia in SEECP, which is an autochthonous initiative from the region, is includes since its beginning. With Macedonia's chairmanship we also point out to things that are important for the whole region. The topic of the summit was conceived based on what had happened 50 years ago - the devastating Skopje earthquake and the solidarity that came from all around the world to re-build Skopje. We live in a region which is frequently hit by earthquakes, flooding and wildfires. Calamities do not respect state, ethnic and religious frontiers. Once, we were shown what solidarity means and now we feel the need to share the experience with others. Thus, the summit focuses on how to reduce the risks of disasters and how to adjust to climate changes. In this respect, Macedonia shows that it knows how to create a regional policy. I am encouraged by the fact that we pave the way for future generations to go even further, to be more courageous in promoting initiatives, projects in the region.

The process has played a positive role and now we expect to enter a new stage. There is a true need of concrete actions in this regard. The process is already starting to be institutionalized because there is a new environment having the need of joint actions to tackle challenges. This also involves launching of initiatives like those in the region, such as the Visegrad Group... Our region with EU's assistance is already leaving a phase of talks and dialogue and enters a phase in which actions are taken.


What is the significance of the 11th Forum within the Dialogue among Civilisations?

If the Balkans in recent history was considered an example of clash of civilizations, 10 years ago we succeeded in imposing a new paradigm of a Dialogue among Civilizations. It was an initiative of the late president Boris Trajkovski and a decade later Macedonia will once again host this event. It was a process amid turbulent times when our region was preoccupied with victims, conflicts, division of territories, swapping of people. President Trajkovski had launched the initiative raising issues that bring people and nations closer. We live in a region intertwined in deep family, cordial ties. It is intertwined in ethnic, religious and language similarities and differences.

It is a heritage that needs to be preserved, fostered and respected, it should not be annulled and destroyed. Macedonia serves as a positive example in all of this. It was this dialogue that had prompted these discussions on topics such as cultural corridors, the role of cultures, religious dialogue, the role of music, in fact the role of all that brings people together. This dialogue had played its role. The main topic this year is youth and my motto is that we need young people for the future and a future for young people.

Everybody needs to be proud of what Macedonia and president Trajkovski did in 2003. We were pioneers; in fact we were ahead of the UN global initiative, the Alliance of Civilizations. It is only natural Macedonia to take active part in summits of the Alliance of Civilizations.


Do you expect any progress in the name issue to be made in due time?

The issue has been a burden for two decades. It takes a lot of time and energy. We were pushed in the whole thing by our neighboring country, but in a different surrounding, in a different time when their intensions perhaps after all this time are almost unsustainable.

However, despite everything, we are committed to the process and the country's leadership agrees about our position. We are determined that the process could come to an end only if the UN resolutions, the Interim Accord and the judgment of the International Court of Justice are respected. If they are not respected and attempts are made to encroach on the issue of identity, there will be no solution. Because then the issue of human rights and human dignity will be violated. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Ohrid had pledged that there was no compromise when it came to human rights. I am pleased with the fact that on his recent visit to Macedonia he saw for himself with what we have been dealing in the past 20 years and the frustrations arising from that. But that is the Balkan politics. A century after the Balkan wars there are still politicians who use the same rhetoric. We live in a new world, the EU is being offered to us as a project that should unite us based on values, criteria and principles. We want that kind of Europe, instead of a Europe that blackmails or sets ultimatums. If one set of principles was applied for all the members, then Macedonia should not be an exception. Instead, Macedonia is an exception in the UN with an additional condition for membership, also in NATO and now in the EU Macedonia is an exception. This is really frustrating.

I've been open about this with all EU leaders. Everything that is our obligation as part of international law and as part of the resolutions, it is acceptable and we take active part. But, when there is an issue encroaching on the sphere of human dignity, I don't know if anybody in the world would agree to such a thing. We see that Ban Ki-moon after his visit to Macedonia is making more efforts insisting a solution to be found.

It is similar with Mr. Nimetz and we are constantly pointing out facts, relevant information and practices and experience from similar matters. Still, we are those who are constructive insisting and seeking solution, because the citizens of Macedonia are suffering the consequences from such an irresponsible behavior of our neighbor. They don't have to face any consequences and could block us for another 100 years.


What are your expectations from the June meeting of the European Council considering the possibility of getting a date for start of negotiations with Macedonia? Are there any new developments regarding the establishment of an inquiry commission, which was proposed by you?

We have been waiting for a long time and we are tired. There have been four positive reports and all requirements have been met. But the events of 24 December 2012 and their consequences have created new tasks for us. Some of these tasks are not fulfilled because there is lack of commitment by certain individuals who are not aware about the importance of these tasks. Once again some old divisions are in effect. Certain individuals with their irresponsible behavior and their personal frustrations are making the European future of Macedonia hostage. In the meantime, the opposition returned to the Parliament and local elections were held.

We still hope that a solution will be found and that a commission will be set up to establish the facts and present its findings, which will be part of the autumn report. I expect serious commitment in order to complete this task. But, I don't think that our EU integration process should be hindered because such a commission hasn't been formed so far. Macedonia in 2009 deserved a date for negotiations. In the meantime, a lot of work and time was invested in building good neighborly ties and in the name talks. Decisions by the European Commission are not supposed to reward or punish political elites. They affect the interests of the citizens. I expect and call on the European leaders to finally reach a decision that has been deserved long time ago.