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The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today, within the official visit to the Republic of Croatia, laid wreath at Zagreb’s Mirogoj cemetery, at the site where the Macedonian revolutionary and Vice President of ASNOM Presidium, Panko Brasnarov, is buried.

In a symbolic manner, a Macedonian delegation for the first time paid tribute to one of the founders of the Macedonian state, after Brashnarov’s burial site has been officially revealed to the public, following his death as a political prisoner at Goli Otok.

“Our sincere wish is the man who opened the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) and who declared Macedonia a free state to get what he deserves and his remains to be returned to the country for which he fought for”, President Ivanov stated, adding that the relevant institutions should assess all the opportunities for exhuming his remains.

“Throughout our history we have endured so many ordeals and difficult times that prevented us from paying attention to great men. Now is the time, as an independent state, in a certain manner, to pay respect to those who fought and died for our country, to do something to return their remains in their homeland”, President Ivanov noted, saying that this act coincides with the All Saint’s Day, catholic religious holiday, marked today in Croatia.

Brashnarov’s burial site was officially revealed in an investigative reporters story, thus the Macedonian President extended his gratitude and urged for other such initiatives.

President Ivanov met today with representatives of the Macedonian community in Croatia as it marks 20 years of involvement in preserving the national identity and promoting activities for progress of nearly 5.000 Macedonians in Croatia.

The Macedonian community is committed to launch Macedonian language classes in all major cities populated by a Macedonian minority. These days it will be enabled in a school in Vukovar, and over 100 children will study Macedonian language as an optional subject. One of the best Macedonian language departments in this part of Europe in within the Faculty of Philology in Rijeka.

The Macedonian President met today with representatives of Croatian companies operating in the Macedonian market and in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce he presented the possibilities to invest in Macedonia and to increase the economic cooperation.

"The traditionally excellent political relations between Macedonia and Croatia should be translated into the economic relations by boosted trade exchange and more investment", President Ivanov said. According to him, greatest bilateral cooperation potential lies in the processing industry and agriculture. One of the possibilities for cooperation is Macedonian and Croatian companies to appear on third markets jointly. As an example, President Ivanov mentioned the market in Qatar, where Macedonian and Croatian construction companies can act jointly.

Trade exchange between Macedonia and Croatia stood at 200 million euros in 2010, marking very low surplus on Macedonian side. In the first eight months of 2011 it stands at 185.6 million dollars, which is a 24% growth compared to the same period last year.