The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today in Prilep formally launched the beginning of the project “Sport as a Factor of Tolerance, Unity and Respect” which includes students from six municipalities. This project, under the auspices of the President, has an aim to enable primary school students of these six communities, through sport, socializing, communication and visiting local cultural monuments, to be better acquainted with their peers who come from different cultural or ethnic communities, to develop a spirit of unity and mutual understanding and respect.

Socializing with children from Tetovo, Center-Skopje, Staro Nagoricane, Vrapciste, Suto Orizari and Prilep, along with the mayors of these six municipalities, at the first sport event in the sport hall “Sonce” near the tobacco factory “Tutunski Kombinat”, President Ivanov said that it is most important young people to understand unity as a solid foundation for a better life, and to focus their competitive spirit on achieving success.

“The project, implemented in five other municipalities, aims through sport to unite youth, to merge them, to let them know, to understand that we live in a country with different religions, cultures, languages, and through mutual acquaintance to learn about diversity and to respect it. They need to understand at a very young age our reality; we must live together and to promote and preserve it. Young people need to compete by doing good things and success and to learn that everything in life is achieved with commitment and effort”, President Ivanov said.

Mayor Marjan Ristevski said he was honored that the project was launched in Prilep, adding that every citizen's task is to cherish multi-nationalism.

"This project aims to contribute young people to grow healthy, in a multiethnic environment that is our greatest wealth. Children need to socialize and get acquainted, while sport is a great occasion for socializing. Friendships of this kind last forever", said Risteski.

The project includes prominent former Macedonian athletes. Former football players Artim Sakiri, Toni Micevski and Marjan Stanojkoski stressed that sport is especially important for all young people.

"We urge all young people to do sport. We would like them to become great talents one day and to represent us in the Macedonian national team. Children need to be given conditions to sport", the football legends said.

Holder of the project "Sport as a Factor of Tolerance, Unity and Respect" is the Association for Development Initiatives Geostrategic Institute 'Global' in partnership with the municipalities involved in its implementation - Prilep, Tetovo, Center-Skopje, Staro Nagoricane, Suto Orizari and Vrapciste. In the coming period similar sports and cultural events will be organized in the other municipalities. Support for the implementation of the project was also provided by the business community and several institutions.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov today in Ohrid delivered a final lecture to the participants of the second Academic Conference “Europe with(out) Borders”, organized by the Macedonian Politicological Forum and the Law Faculty “Iustinianus Primus” and supported by the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”.

President Ivanov urged the future political scientists not to be afraid of success, to focus their activities on improvement and self-advancement; because they as academics are active in all spheres of society and have the opportunity to significantly influence the overall situation in the country.

”We expect these young people who participated in the conference in the future to assume many responsible functions. It is good that they are united nowadays, in finding common solutions on the situation in the country and in the region, and to use science to understand the new reality we live in”, said President Ivanov, discussing the today’s borders of Europe and how they can be moved by the students.

The conference in Ohrid was attended by 50 students of political, economic and related fields from Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, USA, Great Britain. With this year’s conference, also the 15th anniversary of the Macedonian Political Forum is marked, a student organization at the Law Faculty, which represents political scientists from all levels of study.

The topics of the lectures at the conference referred to the concept Europolis, the economic situation and economic challenges, the EU challenges in the Western Balkans and the future of the candidate countries for EU membership.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov today in Ohrid declared open the most popular student sporting event in the state - Macedonian Student Sport Games “MSI 2012”.

At this 15th consecutive student games, organized by the Student Parliament of the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” traditionally held in Ohrid every year, participate more than 800 students.

President Ivanov, the patron of this regional sporting event, along with the students in the field participated in the first football game.

At the sport gathering in Ohrid, besides the students from Macedonia, the students’ leaders from Southeast Europe countries participate, some from the European Students’ Union as well as their colleagues from the countries in the region. It is of particular importance that this gathering is a regional one and it enables communication and interaction among the students from the region.

“This year’s event is the most visited event, with participation of students from almost all state and private universities in Macedonia, but also guests from the European Students' Union. Besides the sport games this year several meetings of the SEI Group (South-East European Initiative) will be held as part of the European Students' Union, Macedonia being a member of it”, Ivan Živkovski, President of the Student Parliament of the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” said.

The program of the student sports games includes several disciplines, futsal, basketball, handball and volleyball in both categories - men and women, table tennis, chess, and this year for the first time wrestling games will be promoted through the competitions in judo.

President Ivanov tonight, at the Presidential Villa Vodno hosted a dinner attended by the Apostolic Nuncio accredited to the Republic of Macedonia, Archbishop Janusz Bolonek and the former Apostolic Nuncio, Santos Abril y Castillo.

President Ivanov congratulated on today’s laying of cornerstone of the new Archbishop Residence in Skopje suburb Vodno, expressing satisfaction that practically one of the necessary preconditions for a possible visit of the Pope has been launched, and reaffirmed the invitation Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Republic of Macedonia.

The President also congratulated the former Nuncio Castillo on his appointment as Cardinal of the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore.

The meeting reaffirmed that the Republic of Macedonia and the Holy See nurture relationships filled with mutual understanding and support, and that the Holy See policy and international efforts, promoting the supreme moral values coincide with the foreign policy orientations of our country. The Republic of Macedonia, as the President said, is a multinational, multicultural and multiconfessional country where dialogue, tolerance, respect for diversity are a centuries-old tradition.

”Our model of coexistence based on the principle of integration without assimilation is our strongest card in the international society, and also our best political export product. That is our contribution to the regional stability and prosperity”, said President Ivanov.

The meeting also addressed the Republic of Macedonia’s efforts to strengthen the dialogue among religions, as well as regular participation at the conferences on dialogue among religions and civilizations. President Ivanov expressed satisfaction that the 10th anniversary of the Summit of Heads of State and Governments in Southeast Europe dedicated to dialogue among civilizations, which was held for the first time in 2003 in Ohrid, the Republic of Macedonia will again host this important event in 2013.

The results of the latest poll of the Political Research Institute - Skopje (IPIS) show that the rating of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov marks continuous increase. Regarding the question: What is your opinion on the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov? - 54.7% gave positive answer, 30.6% negative, while 14.6% said they had no answer.

The majority of Macedonian citizens also believe that President Gjorge Ivanov performs his duty honestly. Regarding the question: Do you think that President Ivanov performs his duty in bona fide, 71.8% responded positively, 20.2% responded negatively and 8% did not answer or had no opinion on this question.

President Ivanov’s policy and work regarding the name issue is assessed positively by 62% of the respondents, while his foreign policy is assessed positively by 59.1%.

This telephone poll was conducted in the period 16 - 19 March 2012 on 1109 respondents, as part of regular public opinion surveys regarding citizens’ trust and perceptions of the work of the President of the Republic of Macedonia.

This public opinion poll was conducted according to the standard questionnaire and based on stratified representative sample of the population in the Republic of Macedonia. The sample observed all relevant demographic specificities of the population (gender, age, education and ethnicity), and appropriate division of respondents was made by residence (urban or rural environment, while Skopje was taken as separate unit due to its specificity). The sample included respondents of all electoral regions in Macedonia. The poll included several questions regarding the work of the President and comparative analysis of data from previous polls.

More than a billion people worldwide have no access to drinking water. Millions of people annually die of drinking polluted water. Only half a percent of the entire water on the planet is potable water, which means that it is a very limited resource. This day reminds us how we should treat water”, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov said today, at the observance of the World Water Day, March 22nd, at the canyon Matka.

”Waters have become global landfills. We have witnessed this on our way here, watching what the divers retrieved from the waters in this restricted area only”, President Ivanov said.

He expressed gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway to Macedonia for the support to the campaign of the speleo-diving club “Vrelo” for cleaning the lake in the canyon Matka. The President also expressed hope that this initiative will become a tradition and awaken awareness of others to change their attitude towards water.

”If we do not create responsible individuals, such pollution will continue and the waters will be more polluted. Through water, our food will be unhealthy too and many diseases will occur. Our life will become complicated due to our negligence for water and nature”, President Ivanov said.

He emphasized that he supports all the initiatives that contribute in building a different attitude and awareness of what we would leave for our descendants.

”We support this action and encourage all young people and all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia to take care of the water because thus we take care of ourselves”, the President added.

The Norwegian Ambassador Kjetil Paulsen said he supported the campaign "Vrelo" because it is an important project which is of great importance for Skopje and all its inhabitants, for the health and waterlife in general.

"Water is the most precious thing we have. There is no life without clean water and therefore water protection is the most important activity of mankind", Ambassador Paulsen said.

Kire Angeleski, President of the speleo-diving club "Vrelo" informed that today the action to clean the lake in the canyon Matka has begun and will last from March to June. The action will include 20 professional divers from Skopje, Ohrid and Bitola from the biggest diving clubs in the country. About 200 tons of solid waste from the lake are to be collected, mostly metal, plastic and tires. Divers will use special equipment, typical for such actions, including separate bins for removal of heavy waste balloons and bags.

The initiative to mark the World Water Day dates back in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. After this, the UN General Assembly in 1993 declared March 22nd as the first World Water Day. To highlight the importance of water, the period 2005-2015 has been declared by the UN as decade of waters under the slogan "Water for Life".