The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today, within the official visit to the Republic of Croatia, visited the municipality of Djakovo, where he laid flowers at the tomb of Josip Juraj Strossmayer, marking the 200^th anniversary of his birth and 110 years since his death.

“Today, in Djakovo, we pay tribute to the great friend and supporter of the Macedonians who were active and created their works then. Djakovo has preserved the treasury of the Macedonian poetry, literature and culture because here the Collection of the Miladinov Brothers was printed. Macedonians are eternally grateful that with the help of Strossmayer our literary work is preserved”, President Ivanov said.

Strossmayer is one of the first priests in the Catholic Church who has revitalized the work of the Thessaloniki brothers Cyril and Methodius, funding the printing of the Collection of the Miladinov Brothers 154 years ago.

The Archbishop of Djakovo and Osijek, Djuro Hranic, at the meeting with President Ivanov stressed that Strossmayer took from Vienna Konstantin Miladinov to Djakovo, where he was copying the songs in Cyrillic for three months and then went with him in Zagreb where those songs were printed.

President Ivanov met with the Mayor of Djakovo, Mr. Zoran Vinkovic, with representatives of the local Macedonian community and attended a cultural - artistic program of the Macedonian ensemble “Miladinov Brothers” from Croatia in the Cathedral in Djakovo. In honor of the Macedonian delegation, the singer group “Vardarki” sang several traditional Macedonian songs.

With the visit of Djakovo, the Macedonian President rounds up his two-day official visit to Croatia. Yesterday in Zagreb, President Ivanov met with the President of the Republic of Croatia, Mrs. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, and with the President of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Josip Leko.

This was the third official visit of President Ivanov to the Republic of Croatia.