Distinguished Attendees,
Respected Mayors,
Dear sport Lovers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Real pleasure is to see the fruits of a hard work. Last year we successfully ran the first round of the Sports Bon Ton project in the Republic of Macedonia. We visited several multiethnic, multi-religious and multilingual communities, and indirectly involved thousands of students.

Today, with the signing of the Cooperation Memorandum on implementation of the Sports Bon Ton project, we want to confirm what we firmly believe in.

We believe that our children should do sports, grow and live together. Make friends, build friendships, respect and help each other, regardless of their ethnic, religious or linguistic background. It is the essence of the Macedonian model of coexistence and respect, which is transmitted from ancestors to offspring, from parents to children, from teachers to students.

We believe we can achieve it through sports, which is, along with the family and the school, the third pillar of children's education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Properly understood, the sport has the power to bring us together, to connect and integrate us, to erase ethnic, linguistic, religious and social differences. Wrongly understood, the sport can turn into a battleground of insults and disdains, defeating all involved parties, including the sport itself.

This dedicated team has properly understood the power of sports and decided it was high time to restore the values, principles and rules of the real sport, the sportsmanship.

The best sports victory is the one won in a fair play. The only worth victory is the one without losers. The Sports Bon Ton project aims to enable children to achieve the best and most valuable sports victory, a victory with two winners – the youth and Macedonia.

Therefore, I am pleased that, as President of the Republic of Macedonia, I am patron of this important partnership between the Geostrategic Institute "Global" and the mayors of Ohrid, Karposh, Mavrovo-Rostuse, Veles, Sveti Nikole and Novo Selo. A partnership which, I am confident, will be expanded with new municipalities and deepened with new contents.

Partnership we are committed to create a future for young people through sports bon ton, and through the young people to build the future of Macedonia.

Thank you.