"Interfaith dialogue that we stand for has respect as its main aim, and not overcoming tolerance.  Since the purpose of dialogue is to help us live with our deepest religious differences, without neglecting or having to overcome them", underlined President Ivanov in Rome, where he is currently participating in the 7th High Level Meeting organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and the Italian Association for International Organizations - Initiative for Global Dialogue in a multipolar world, held in the Senate of the Italian Republic.

Prior to his address at the conference entitled "Responding to radicalization and extremism through interfaith dialogue", President Ivanov had a meeting with the President of the Italian Senate, Mr. Pietro Grasso.

In his address, the Macedonian President stated that if we wish to have peace in the world, we must build coexistence, i.e. to have mutual respect and acceptance of diversities.  The message of President Ivanov was that through sincere dialogue, we meet and respect the others.

"Instead of moving towards greater openness, promotion of human rights and freedoms, in the second decade of the 21st century, we are taking two steps back.  Towards fear and isolation, that bring even deeper divisions and greater fears", emphasized the Macedonian President, adding that united Europe today has more walls than divided Europe during the Cold War. As reasons for this situation, President Ivanov named the misuse of religion, double standards, ignoring international law as well as global disorder.

Integration through assimilation, poverty and absence of a deeper meaning and belonging present in the Western world, were also among the main reasons leading to contemporary radicalism and extremism mentioned by President Ivanov.

What makes interfaith dialogue even more difficult, stated President Ivanov, is the misuse of religion by state actors who use its power to impose acceptance of their own positions.

"On the opposite side of our commitment for unity in diversity are those who wish for unity through uniformity.  Intolerance, exclusion and racism in the world have increased by manifold.  Therefore, the need for dialogue has also increased", was one of the messages of the Macedonian President.

He stated that, instead of trying to put different religions within a frame that we have constructed, it would be much better to leave some space for the expression of diversity, whereby we would build mutual trust as equals in terms of rights and obligations.

In Macedonia, we have had centuries old coexistence between Christians, Muslims and Jews. This did not make Christians any less Christian, Muslims any less Muslim or Jews any less Jewish.   On the contrary, they all became richer with this experience, underlined President Ivanov, mentioning some of the activities that Macedonia has been implementing in the area of interfaith dialogue, both at the regional and international level.

In this context, President Ivanov informed the participants that this year, Macedonia will host the Fourth World Conference on Interreligious and Intercivilizational dialogue.

Besides the Macedonian President, the Conference is Rome was also attended by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, Former Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Italian Former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, as well as the former Presidents of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski, Croatia, Ivo Josipovic and Serbia, Boris Tadic.

Tonight, the Macedonian President will attend a reception in honor of the participants, hosted by the President of the Italian Republic, Mr. Sergio Mattarella.

President Ivanov will be awarded a special recognition by the co-presidents of Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Mrs Vaira Vike - Freiberga and Mr. Ismail Serageldin.

The participation of President Ivanov at these events is a result of his dedication to the realization of the goals of the UN Alliance of Civilizations as well as the excellent cooperation with Nizami Ganjavi IC and the Italian Association for International Organizations.  Previously, the President of the Republic of Macedonia participated in the high level meetings in Baku, Sofia and Rome.