The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, at an official ceremony, awarded the cups and prizes to the winners of this year's, 29th Ohrid Swimming Marathon, to the Macedonian swimmer Evgenij Pop Acev and the Italian swimmer Alice Franco.

President Ivanov, who is this year's winner of the "Klime Savin" award for his constant and generous support of the Ohrid Swimming Marathon, in his welcome address, said that it is his honor and pleasure to be a sponsor of one of the most important sporting events in Macedonia.

"With its quality and rich tradition, the Ohrid Swimming Marathon has secured a place on the map of major swimming competitions. We are honored that each year the Lake Ohrid is a scene of the   dramatic sporting battle involving the world's best marathon male and female swimmers. Ohrid and the Ohrid coast offer impressive scenery and rich cultural and historical heritage as a lasting testament to the creativity and limitlessness of the human spirit. In this harmonious landscape, the Ohrid Marathon fits perfectly, leaving a peculiar sports mark, President Ivanov said.

The World Swimming Federation, for the contribution to the successful organization of this marathon edition, awarded certificates of gratitude to Mayor Nikola Bakracheski and the Municipality of Ohrid, as well as to the Ministry of Interior and the Special Unit "Tigers".

Pop Acev is the first Macedonian swimmer to win this marathon race in the past 29 editions as the Ohrid Marathon is on the "Grand Prix" racing program at open waters by the World Swimming Federation. He swam the "Klime Savin" track from St. Naum to Ohrid, long 30km, for 5:39:42 hrs. It took his colleague from Italy, the best in the women's race, Alice Franco, 5:44:03 hrs to swim the Lake Ohrid.

Tomi Stefanovski also won a medal at this marathon edition, winning the bronze, although he was the fourth to reach the end, because Daniel Blaum who reached the end second, irregularly passed by the last control point of the race and was disqualified. The silver medal in the men's competition went to Matthew Evangelista from Brazil.

In the women's competition, the silver and bronze medal went to the Russian swimmer Anna Mankevich and Esther Nunez Morera from Spain.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, on the occasion of the religious holiday Assumption of the Holy Mother of God visited the "Trekavec" monastery and urged all believers and Orthodox Christians to respect the traditions and cherish what is left to us by our ancestors.

"To be in solidarity, to be helping people, because this holiday is a symbol of giving and protecting", President Ivanov said.

The Macedonian President expressed hope that, as a generation, we will help rebuild the monastery.

"As people who sense all the beauty of all this tradition and culture, we will make sure to leave all that is left to us as legacy to the future generations – a monastery befitting its history so far, all that affected this region, and for all our people", President Ivanov said.

Marjan Ristevski, Mayor of Prilep, said that it is his pleasure, on this great Christian holiday, to be in one of the most beautiful monasteries, in the presence of the Head of State and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Congratulating the great holiday to the believers, Ristevski wished the dormitories of this monastery, which is one of the most beautiful in Macedonia and in the Balkans, with the efforts of the Government and the Ministry of Culture, to be restored as soon as possible.

Responding to a journalist's question, he said that the projects are nearing completion and that it is expected the bids to be soon announced, and, following the selection of companies, the reconstruction of the new dormitories to start.

"Two years ago, one of the most important works was done along with the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia - the construction of an asphalt access road to the monastery, for the first time in history, that much helps large number of tourists, Orthodox Christians and believers, to visit the monastery", Ristevski said. In this context, he added, this will help a lot in the future to bring the machinery and building materials for the construction of the dormitories of the monastery.

Participating in the School for Young Leaders, you receive a certificate, a ticket for the trip called life. I hope that everything you have learned so far, the knowledge, skills, friendships, will serve in the next trip, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, told the participants of the 6th School for Young Leaders, held in Ohrid.

At the awarding of the certificates for participation and successful completion of the ten-day intensive leadership training, President Ivanov compared the experience gained through the School for Young Leaders with a boat, and a leader, as he said, is the one who holds the helm and takes care of all passengers, doing everything to bring them to the mainland despite the storms.

"You are a generation that frequently travels by car. Therefore, it is enough to look back through your rear-view mirror and to look ahead with eyes wide open and see indefinitely. Be responsible for your passengers, for what life brings", President Ivanov said, urging the young leaders to share their knowledge with others.

President Ivanov advised the participants of the School to be good persons, inclined towards the good in life.

"Always do good things, hence beauty never goes without goodness. And then comes the awareness of justice", President Ivanov said among the other things.

He expressed hope that all participants of this School for Young Leaders, in the past ten days, were filled with self-confidence, vision, skills, knowledge which cannot be acquired through books, but through acquaintances, friendships, contacts.

At this year's School participated 44 young leaders who had the opportunity to hear experience, knowledge, from twenty renowned lecturers from top educational and professional institutions from Macedonia, Europe, USA, Israel and Morocco ... Among the lecturers of the 6th School for Young Leaders were the former Bulgarian President, Petar Stoyanov, the former Vice President of the European Commission and Foreign Minister of Italy, Franco Frattini, Marc Otte, CEO of the Royal Institute for International Relations - Egmont, Abdulaziz Othman Al-Twaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "ISESCO", Jovan Kovacic, member of the executive committee of the Trilateral Commission and CEO of "East West Bridge", Matthew Kwasiborski, Director of the European Institute of the Fund for American Studies...

In the past five years the School was attended by around 200 young people and more than 120 lecturers, including the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the former presidents of the Czech Republic and the Republic of Serbia, Vaclav Klaus and Boris Tadic, the presidents of the World and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ivo Slaus and Felix Unger, and many ambassadors, European Union officials, directors of international institutes and successful businessmen, professors from renowned universities worldwide.

The idea of President Ivanov is to enable talented and ambitious young people from Macedonia to upgrade and improve their skills, develop their creativity and leadership skills by organizing this school.
The participants of the previous schools are organized in the Alumni association – ISLAA, registered as a separate association, which, through the organization of seminars, panel discussions, lectures, meetings with ambassadors, participation in youth events, further develops the knowledge and skills of the school participants.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, went today to the children's camp "Nightingale" in Ohrid and visited the participants of the children's music festival, the "Golden Nightingale".

Macedonia is proud to have the "Golden Nightingale" festival. Your mission is an incentive for the current generations and for the generations to come - to continue to cherish true values, President Ivanov told the "Golden Nightingales". They expressed their gratitude for the continued support of the Macedonian President through songs. They promised tireless and dedicated work to achieve even greater successes and even greater joy in the future.

In 2010, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the "Golden Nightingale" festival was awarded by President Ivanov with the "Charter of the Republic of Macedonia".

Сите сакаме да бидеме во Европа и да бидеме Европјани. Оваа школа е влог во таа европеизација на Македонија, и доколку поради познатите блокади не можеме да бидеме дел од ЕУ, барем младите да ги направиме Европјани во Македонија, да ги почувствуваат вредностите што ги имаат нивните врсници кои имале среќа да бидат дел од ЕУ. Ова го истакна меѓу другото претседателот д-р Ѓорге Иванов во обраќањето пред учесниците на Школа за млади лидери што по негова иницијатива по шести пат се одржува во Охрид.

„Моментот на одлука е она што Ве прави да сте свои. Носењето одлука е она што влијае врз другите да го почитуваат она што сте го направиле. Човек што не носи одлуки е склон да робува, да се покорува, а оној што носи вистински одлуки е учител, оној што го следат...", истакна претседателот Иванов, забележувајќи дека токму тоа е интенцијата на школата за млади лидери – од успешните луѓе да направи уште поуспешни, да создаде позитивни примери за другите.

Говорејќи за брзиот технолошки развој на цивилизацијата, македонскиот претседател укажа на брзиот развој на технологијата, огромниот развој на информатиката, информатичкото општество, сето тоа како влијание врз, како што рече „планетарното општество, глобалната свест што се гради кај сите".

„Вие ќе живееете во свет во кој ќе имате пристап до огромен број податоци, сознанија, информации така што наша задача е да ве оспособиме како да знаете да се ориентирате во тој свет, да знаете како да го користите знаењето, да го примените и истото да го ширите. Оттаму оваа е школа за вештини, а не за знаење, бидејќи знаење веќе имате", рече претседателот Иванов.

Македонскиот претседател им порача на младите лидери да ги користат искуствата, знаењата, умеењата на предавачите, професорите, за преку меѓусебна соработка, како што забележа формирање „мрежно мислење", односно не да мисли само за себе, туку да мисли за другите, за средината, околината, својата држава, континент, свет...

„Ве оспособуваме да бидете луѓе кои ќе знаат да водат, и во културата и во уметноста. И во здравството и во образованието, и во политиката и во спортот. Затоа ве има од сите профили, вие сте оние луѓе што треба да им го покажат патот на тие што ќе дојдат после вас", нагласи претседателот Иванов.

Пред учесниците се обратија и поранешниот претседател на Бугарија Петар Стојанов, како и поранешниот шеф на италијанската дипломатија и еврокомесар за правда Франко Фратини.

Поранешниот бугарски претседател Стојанов укажа на потребата од споделување заеднички вредности во регионот и во светот во целина, и тоа не само преку декларации и резолуции, туку преку вистинско создавање мостови, за што се потребни токму луѓе со визии, со способности да создадат заедничка визија за заедничка европска иднина.

„Старите стереотипи немаат веќе место во новите балкански стратегии, кои првпат после толку многу војни и непријателства претставуваат победничка стратегија за сите балкански нации. За да успее таквата стратегија, потребно е сите да веруваме во потребата од споделување заеднички вредности, и сето тоа да се случи брзо и ефикасно, рече г. Стојанов.

Поранешниот шеф на италијанската дипломатија и еврокомесар за правда Франко Фратини, меѓу другото зборуваше за европската перспектива на Балканот притоа отворено, како судија, а не како дипломат или професионален политичар, укажувајќи на огромната потреба од млади лидери во Европа.

„Фактот што Македонија се уште е надвор од ЕУ, таа бескрајна приказна околу името, е последица токму на недостигнот на лидерство. Не е тоа бирократски проблем, туку отсуството на политичка волја...Сега можам да кажам дека тоа зависеше и се уште зависи од фактот дека не постои доволно храброст и политички лидерство во Европа, да се стави крај на таа приказна", рече г. Фратини.

Вкупно 44 учесници и околу 20 предавачи од Македонија, Европа, САД, Израел и Мароко се дел од Школата за млади лидери ќе се одржува до 28-ми овој месец.

Идејата на школата е да им се овозможи на младите, талентирани и иновативни луѓе од Македонија да ги надградуваат и усовршуваат своите вештини, да ја развиваат својата креативност и лидерски способности, преку предавања и обуки од сферите на лидерството и менаџментот.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, his wife Ms. Maja Ivanova and son Ivan, received today in the Villa "Biljana" in Ohrid, a delegation of the Special Olympics Macedonia, which participated in the Summer Olympic Games held from July 25 to August 2 in Los Angeles, USA.

At the meeting, President Ivanov congratulated the success achieved at the Olympic Games and conveyed his high respect for their efforts, noting that he supports in particular the activities related to persons with disabilities.

- Your success is a positive example that motivates others to get involved in sport because sport is one of the most successful ways of integration and socialization of persons with disabilities. Thanks to the successes of the athletes of the Special Olympics, our country is promoted, President Ivanov said.

The Special Olympics representatives informed President Ivanov that this is the most successful performance at the Olympic Games of this nature, as well as on their plans for the future and participation in major international events that follow, expressing a firm commitment to continue to achieve top results.

Reason for the meeting was the excellent performance of the Macedonian athletes at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, who achieved great success by winning two gold, six silver and four bronze medals in several sport disciplines: athletics, swimming, unified, basketball and table tennis.