The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today attended the solemn liturgy in the Cathedral church “St. Kliment Ohridski” led by the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, H.H. Stefan. He congratulated all Orthodox believers the greatest Christian holiday - Easter and wished them health, happiness, joy, peace, harmony and success.

”These are the holidays when we are reminded of our tradition, what our ancestors have left to us as a covenant, to respect each other and to forgive, because as we respect others and forgive them, they will respect and will forgive us as well”, President Ivanov said after the solemn liturgy.

The President on this occasion strongly condemned the murder of five people in the village Smiljkovci near Skopje, expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims and conveyed a message to the perpetrators of the brutal murder that justice will be done.

”These days we can not but mention the murder of those five children and sympathize with their families and their loved ones. We expect the perpetrators to be apprehended and punished”, the President stressed.

Easter for Christian believers is the holiest and brightest holiday, symbol of victory of life over death, good over evil. This holiday is a combination of faith and tradition, the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Day of symbolic and traditional way of celebrating the proof of Jesus’ divine power.