President Ivanov in Ohrid today opened the third School for Young Leaders with a message that Macedonia needs leaders not only in politics, but comprehensively established personalities capable to organize people, to create teams that will change the reality and the society they live in.

"Now is the time not only to create a future for the young people, but also young people for the future with ideas and initiatives", President Dr. Gjorge Ivanov said in his address to the participants of the third generation of the School for Young Leaders.

The president, who is patron of the School and its initiator, urged young people to use the next few days of their stay in Ohrid to learn new skills, to be initiative and creative, to exchange valuable experiences that will be beneficial for them in future.

He urged the young participants of the School to be true leaders and to motivate others to learn and to be leaders.

"Our goal is to be part of Europe in order to respect the European standards, criteria, values. We need not to go to Europe, we need to create Europe here, to be Europeans, people with open minds, accepting everything positive and rejecting everything from the past that burdens us", President Ivanov said.

The participants of the Leadership School were also addressed by the President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Felix Unger, who welcomed President Ivanov's initiative, announcing that similar activities will be organized by the EASA. Unger, among the other things, pointed out the necessity to make a distinction of the terms managers and leaders.

"It is about two different things. The manager in the society is in a secondary position, implementing his own tasks, goals, while the leader is a person that motivates, a person who is constantly creating new and better ways of living with his actions", Unger said.

Referring to the European values, the President of EASA emphasized freedom as one of the greatest benefits, stressing that it would lose its value if it is not accompanied by human virtues such as the desire for justice, enhanced with education.

At an invitation of President Ivanov, lecture to the participants of the School for Young Leaders had also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and former Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Philip Reeker, who congratulating President Ivanov for initiating this project, assessed the School for Young Leaders as an excellent initiative, which has emerged as a standard, as something that is needed to the wider community.

"The School for Young Leaders is an exceptional forum and I am very glad to be part of President Ivanov's initiative again. We will discuss with the young leaders of Macedonia their perspectives and the challenges faced by modern society. This initiative does not only present an opportunity for Macedonia to make the most of its potentials and resources, but is also very important in regional and global context. These young leaders will not only play a significant role in the future of Macedonia, but they will be the creators of the regional structure, something the United States is actively supporting within its commitment to full Euro-Atlantic integration of the region", Riker said.

"It is a privilege to be here at the School for Young Leaders, which I think is a fantastic initiative. The inspiration of President Ivanov to encourage and connect young people and thus to improve their leadership skills, can only be commended", the British Ambassador Christopher Yvon said, who also gave a lecture today to the young leaders on the concept of active leadership and how to transform it into reality.

The School for Young Leaders was established to stimulate positive values among young leaders and future political, economic and cultural leaders of our country and to develop their capacity to cope with the challenges of the global technology, international competition and cultural and religious diversification.

President Ivanov first initiated this idea in his election program, with a vision to enable young, talented and ambitious people from Macedonia to improve and upgrade their skills, to develop their creativity and managerial skills.