The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, received today the members of the Macedonian Traditional Karate Federation who achieved great results and won several medals at the last European Championship in traditional karate held in Jerusalem, Israel.

President Ivanov at the meeting congratulated the great success of the Macedonian karate federation members, wishing further sport successes and accomplishments and respectable representation of the Republic of Macedonia in the world.

”Your success is Macedonia’s success. Investment in sport is investment in our future. I am proud that with your example, young people today have positive heroes and idols to identify with. As proven in the past, the collective sports and the results of the Macedonian national teams restored our confidence and united us in celebrating their success”, President Ivanov said at the meeting, stressing that karate as a sport and skill, requires great physical and mental preparedness, as well as established and sound character.

The selector and coach of the Macedonian Traditional Karate Federation, Vencislav Nedev, expressed his gratitude to President Ivanov for the great support and that all sport successes have been appraised by the Head of state. On behalf of the Federation Presidency, he awarded President Ivanov with a Plaque of Merit.

The Members of the Karate Federation informed the President about the current activities and preparations, as well as the plans for participation in future championships, indicating that the greatest desire and goal is for Macedonia to host one of the next world championships in karate, for which the candidacy is already filed. The Macedonian karate federation noted that by constructing new sports facilities, the conditions for training and upgrading are improving as a basic prerequisite for raising the sports shape and achievement of results.

Dejan Nedev in Jerusalem won a gold medal, winning five fights in the kumite discipline. At the European Championship, the Macedonian national team won two silver and two bronze medals. European vice team -champions in kumite are Dejan Nedev, Kristijan Kajchevski, Matej Angelovski and Aljosha Nedev.

On the occasion of 21 February, the International Mother Language Day, promoted within the United Nations as the day of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today visited the Faculty of philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje where he met with the dean, the vice deans and the heads of departments, but also he had the opportunity to meet with students.

As the President stressed, a language is a communication code we use to communicate and get to know each other and express our uniqueness. Everyone should have the right to learn and nurture the mother tongue, adding that the Faculty of philology nurtures this practice, and besides the Macedonian, in this educational institution the languages of the other ethnic communities are learned, as well as part of the world languages.

Macedonia is a positive example of learning the languages of the communities, but, unfortunately, in the neighboring countries this is not the case. Therefore, today's International Mother Language Day may be the call and motive every one of us to foster the mother language, and not to be hindered in this”, President Ivanov said, emphasizing that the greatest enemy of the mother tongue is the one that disrespects it.

At the meeting with the students at the Faculty, and later in a press statement, the Head of State, quoting Koneski, noted that the language is a spiritual homeland, and that by respecting the language we respect the tradition and the ancestors who preserved and modernized the language.

“The language contains the uniqueness of every community and enables us to be people. If there is no language there will be no poetry, literature and the entire heritage of the ancestors”, the President said, urging the students to take care for the purity of the language.

Regarding the recent reactions to the idea to terminate or reduce the quotas for enrollment of students at the Macedonian language and literature departments, the Head of State stressed that the problem is economic and not political. He announced that, together with the Minister of Education and Science, they will seriously approach the issue of Macedonian language study groups in the world, being directly informed that they are facing financial problems.

"As the economic situation improves, there will be more funds for these departments. We hope this problem will be overcome and more departments will be opened", President Ivanov said.

Being asked by a journalist about his impression following the meeting with the UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz, the President stressed that Macedonia has always been constructive and contributed to finding a mutually acceptable solution. Ambassador Nimetz' statement indicates that we as a country are committed to resolving the issue pending for one and half decade.

"We expect the same dedication and constructive approach from the other side. However, unfortunately, there are no positive moves lately", the Head of State said after visiting the Faculty of Philology at the Skopje University.

President Ivanov does not consider that Macedonia and Greece are now in disunity concerning the name dispute and that, according to him, is confirmed by the relationship between the ordinary citizens of both countries.

"If you perceive the situation among ordinary citizens of Greece and Macedonia, it is quite different. The fears and prejudices of the past are fading away. Among the citizens there are no denials and disagreements. This problem has been created by the political elites, who used it for political purposes. Some Greek politicians have made political careers holding this issue open. We need to consider all its dimensions. We are the ones who are concerned and suffer because Greece has a problem with our name. We have no problem to whom to prove who we are, we know who we are and what we are", President Ivanov said.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, paid a visit to Istanbul where he had working meetings with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At the meetings, the collocutors concurred positive trend in development of bilateral relations and cooperation thus expressing satisfaction from continued high level of political relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Turkey, characterized with spirit of friendship, high level of trust and absence of open issues.

Central topic of these two meetings was exchange of opinions on the latest developments concerning Macedonia's integration in NATO ahead of Chicago Summit.

President Ivanov expressed his gratitude for the support that the Republic of Macedonia receives from the Republic of Turkey in the North-Atlantic Alliance and underlined that Macedonia has met all requirements and expects the deserved NATO membership. President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan emphasized that the Republic of Macedonia can always count on unreserved support from the Republic of Turkey. They also exchanged views and information on regional issues at the meetings.

For a fruitful and prosperous year, in line with the Macedonian traditions, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today, on the Day of the Wine-Growers and great Christian holiday St. Trifun, attended the ceremony marking this holiday in Kavadarci and Demir Kapija.

President Ivanov took part in the ceremonial act of pruning vineyards, wishing the wine-growers rich production of grapes and the wine producers - even greater presence at the foreign markets.

”Today we are here, in the Tikves region, to wish the wine-growers very fruitful year and prosperity, and the wine producers - good quality. Macedonian wine is increasingly present outside of Macedonia, it is becoming Macedonian recognizable brand because the quality of the grapes from this region is known from long ago and is a trademark of the Tikves region. I hope this year we will realize a greater export of the Macedonian wine on world markets”, President Ivanov said during today’s visit of the Tikves wine region.

He stressed that he is especially pleased with the fact that this century-old tradition is renewed, and the citizens gather together on this day, are united and celebrate the Day of Wine-Growers - St. Trifun. President Ivanov said that he prefers the taste of the wine "Vranec", produced from the distinctive Macedonian variety - Vranec.
 

"I come from this region, in the past my family had a private vineyard. Vranec is a specific variety, typical for this region, and is also very healthy wine, which serves as a medicine", the President said, who attended the auction of archive wines, organized by the "Tikves Wine Route" Foundation, as part of the celebration of this holiday.
 

The President was successful in the auction and bought for himself several samples of quality wine produced by known Macedonian wineries, along with the Finance Minister, Zoran Stavreski, the U.S. Ambassador Paul Wohlers and other representatives of the diplomatic corps. The funds raised from the auction of wines will be allocated for the Special Institute "Demir Kapija" and for support of the people with disabilities who are accommodated in this Institute.

The Australian-Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) sent a notification to the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, and to the other relevant institutions in the country, informing on their efforts concerning the right of self-identification of the Macedonian community and the constant lobbying, which finally ended up with a positive result - the Australian Government officially withdrew the “Slavo-Macedonian Directive”, whereof the Macedonian community was renamed in 1994.

”The announcement of the Australian Government to officially end its offensive policy of renaming means a return to the longstanding and successful policy of multiculturalism, which AMHRC has long ago supported”, the Australian-Macedonian Committee says in its notification, adding that it will continue to advocate for the requirements the Australian Government to recognize the Republic of Macedonia under its official and democratically elected name.

President Ivanov in his letter to the Australian-Macedonian Human Rights Committee expressed special satisfaction with the withdrawal of the aforementioned Directive.

"The letters you have received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Australia and the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship which confirm that in the future the term “Macedonian” will be used is a huge success and therefore, I sincerely congratulate you”, President Ivanov said in his letter, appraising the commitment and efforts of the members of the Committee for recognizing and improving the position of the Macedonians in Australia, as well as for the affirmation of the Macedonian ethnic, linguistic and cultural identity.

”We are proud of our countrymen in Australia and grateful for everything they do in preservation and affirmation of Macedonian identity and traditions. As before, so in the future, you have my full support. Friendly relations and cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and Australia will continue to evolve and improve in all spheres of mutual interest, and the great Macedonian community in Australia has always been the binding bridge”, is written in the letter of President Ivanov.

The AMHRC campaign was initiated in 1994 and included hearings in the High Court of Australia, the Commission on Human Rights and Equal Opportunities and the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. The campaign reached its peak recently as a result of the intensive series of exchanges of opinions, which included meetings and correspondence with the government cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister, parliamentary representatives from all political parties and several government ministries.

The President of the Republic of Macedonia and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today in the Army Hall attended a briefing on the combat readiness of the ARM for 2011, as a regular obligation of the Chief of the General Staff of the ARM towards the President.

The Chief of the General Staff of the ARM, Major General Gorancho Koteski, at the regular annual meeting reported to President Ivanov on the combat readiness of the Army in the previous year.

President Ivanov was informed by Major General Koteski on the realization of the plans and tasks in 2011, in accordance with the functional fields of the ARM, and are related to: personnel management, force protection, operations, training and exercises, logistic provision, signals and communications and budgeting.

In addition to the President of the Republic of Macedonia, the briefing for combat readiness of the ARM was also attended by: The Minister of Defence, Fatmir Besimi, The Chief of the GS of the ARM, Major General Gorancho Koteski, the commanders of the subordinate commands and units, the key personnel from the Ministry of Defence and the Heads of the organizational units of the GS of the ARM.