Respected Citizens of the Republic of Macedonia,
Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The end of the old and the beginning of the new century has always been experienced with euphoria. Those whose century was fading away felt fear and uncertainty of the future. Those who were oppressed by then, however, expected the new age with courage and optimism.

For many things, the late 19th and early 20th century was the golden age of the Western civilization. For Europe, it was a period of relative social stability, peaceful international relations, political reform and economic integration with thus far unprecedented technological and cultural progress. The progress was filtering through the railways, through the new discoveries, the telegraph, the telephone. Electricity from power plants came to factories and households and was in function of the industrialism, trade and rapid economic growth. In 1901 for the first time the Nobel Prize for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace was awarded.

Everything that marked the late 19th and early 20th century was preceded by revolutions. The revolutionary years of 1830, 1848 and 1871 announced the end of the old regimes and empires of the 19th century. Exactly 1871, which brought the Paris Commune, was the year of unification of Italy and Germany. 1871 announced similar processes and aspirations in other parts of Europe.

At the Congress of Berlin in 1878 some nations gained independence. Those who were not yet independent, patiently and optimistically were observing the sunset of the old empires and the dawn of the new sovereign nation-states. As the sick man of the Bosphorus was loosing territories, and the peoples within Austria-Hungary were receiving wider cultural autonomies, the expectation was spread that with the beginning of the 20th century a new epoch would come, the epoch of freedom.

Such was the euphoric ambience in which on October 23, 1893, just seven years before the beginning of the new and promising 20th century, six people gathered in one place. They gathered and said: We will have what the other European nations have - free and independent Macedonian state.

On that day, October 23, in Thessaloniki, the first All-Macedonian organization was established. The youngest among them was the 22-year-old teacher Dame Gruev. The oldest was the 32-year-old bookseller Ivan Hadzi Nikolov. They, along with Dr. Hristo Tatarcev, Petar Pop Arsov, Anton Dimitrov and Hristo Batandzhiev paved the path of the organized Macedonian revolutionary struggle and defined its main streams.

Strongly convinced that the freedom can only be won by our own forces, Ivan Hadzi Nikolov, said: "The organization shall be autonomous and independent, with no ties to and engagement with the governments of neighboring countries so as not to influence it and blame it of being a tool of any of those governments and thereby cause counteraction by the other neighboring governments."
This principle was later followed up by Goce Delchev, who, in 1901, said: "To preserve the purity of the liberation movement and of the Organization - that is the first condition for our success!"

The prominent figures of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle respected and accepted Macedonia's diversity and wanted freedom and equality of all its children. They opened the doors for all Macedonians, Vlachs, Turks, Albanians who were willing to fight for Macedonia's freedom.

Respected Fellow Citizens,

The founders of the Macedonian revolutionary organization were teachers. Their work was continued by their disciples. The disciples participated in the uprisings for liberation of Macedonia. They wrote appeals and declarations to the great powers and entered in open conflict with those who divided and re-occupied Macedonia. They were fighting for Macedonia throughout the 20th century. The disciples were the intellectual elite which, although not always united in the means, was united in the goal - freedom for Macedonia.

For a very short time, in very complex internal and external circumstances, the Macedonian organization managed to unite an entire nation, an entire country under one flag and one revolutionary goal.

From the seed sown on October 23, 1893, a tree has grown which gives rich fruit. But, as the old wisdom says, the fruitful tree should be stoned. It should be stoned to harvest the fruit. Therefore, we were betrayed, upbraided and divided, subjected to terror and forced assimilation.
Only 10 years after the establishment of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, on August 2, 1903, the day of Ilinden, the Ilinden epic started. The famous Krusevo Republic lasted shortly and was bloodily crushed. Many Macedonians, Vlachs, Albanians, Jews gave their lives for our freedom. They buried along many unfulfilled personal dreams, but not the dream of freedom.

After the Ilinden uprising many revolutionaries went to the European and world capitals to fight for freedom from freedom. Even there they were the inspiration for the Macedonian defiance, independence and equality with the other European nations. But, with this, Macedonia was left without leaders in the field. It made the way for foreign propaganda easier.

In 1910, this All-Macedonian organization received its definite name: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or VMRO. In that same year, there was a schism. One part of the organization went to the "left" and the other to the "right". The Macedonian national revolutionary movement was disabled and Macedonia and the Macedonian people were dismembered in the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913.

With the outbreak of the World War I, the Macedonian intellectuals abroad raised their voice. The Macedonian colony in St. Petersburg in the "Macedonian Voice" in October 1915 published the appeal of the Macedonian patriots to the national representatives of Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece which reads "Macedonia should be sovereign, entire and independent."
In 1924, the paths of the left and the right wing met again in VMRO (United). The "May Manifesto" of VMRO with a new political program, among the other things, states: "VMRO as a real revolutionary force fights for liberation and unification of the upbraided parts of Macedonia in a fully autonomous (independent) political unit." Ultimate goal was freedom and independence of Macedonia, creation of a Balkan federation and peace in the Balkans - to facilitate the establishment of peace throughout Europe.

The main program ideas of VMRO were accepted by the labor movement, the liberal and people's organizations of Macedonians, the Macedonian literary and cultural organizations. All ideological movements of Macedonia emerged from the revolutionary movement and the struggle for freedom of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.

In 1935, a larger group of young Macedonians in Zagreb drafted a Declaration that followed the principles of the Macedonian revolutionary struggle. The next year, in Ohrid, about 200 students, intellectuals and prominent Macedonians, organized the Congress of the Macedonian National Movement - MANAPO.

The Congress was with a democratic, anti-fascist and Macedonian-patriotic orientation. The decisions were tested on October 11, 1941 - the day when the young fighters in the National Liberation Struggle continued the march towards freedom that was started by the old Ilinden fighters. At its forefront was the ideologist and organizer of the National Liberation Struggle, Kuzman Josifovski - Pitu.

Respected Fellow Citizens,

70 years ago, the National Liberation Struggle led to the second, the statehood Ilinden. "...The Macedonian nation is determined to live a life in freedom and there is no force in the world that can stand on its path to full national freedom," reads the Manifesto of the First Session of ASNOM of August 2, 1944.

The Session was opened by Panko Brasnarov and closed by Metodija Andonov – Cento, who was elected the first President of the Presidium of ASNOM.
Cento and Brasnarov, as many other sincere patriots, become victims of the Ilinden ideals in the new state. Yet, they were never forgotten. Their memorial is here, in this Museum of Freedom.

The road to freedom started by these six patriots was walked by the Ilinden and ASNOM fighters, both by the rebels and the partisans.
The road to freedom was finalized by the Macedonian citizens, at the third Ilinden, September 8, 1991.
The Declaration of Independence which is laid here, in this place, made the eternal desire of the Macedonian people for freedom and preservation of its identity come true. The desire to create its own, independent, sovereign and democratic state - the Republic of Macedonia.

This bright holiday, October 23, unites generations who fought and won our freedom and the freedom of our children.

Burdened with everyday challenges, we do not always understand the depth and strength of the desire to be on our own. Freedom is regarded as something that is bestowed. And it is true. It is bestowed to us, but not by strangers, but by our ancestors who fought and won the freedom we now live in. They swore with the oath "freedom or death". Many of them chose death so that we have freedom today. But, through our freedom, they live in our memory.

We will never know the price paid for our freedom. It is left to us to preserve and develop it for the unborn. Our aspiration is for a better and more dignified life here in Macedonia in the country for which our ancestors fought.

We are erecting museums and celebrating holidays to remember and learn from the past. But, as we build for the past, we are building for the present and for the future. With the continued reforms in all fields, we are building the European future for the Macedonian citizens.

Dear Friends,

Similar to the end of the 19th century, the end of the 20th century was greeted with euphoria and triumphalism. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and, along with it, the old regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The end of the Cold War and the victory of liberalism bore hope for a quieter, safer and better life, hope that the East will have what the West has. Yet, after euphoria comes confrontation with reality. The triumphalism of the free world slackened after only a decade.

In 2000, as well as a century before, there were the great expectations that the new millennium would start with a century filled with peace, security, development, prosperity and justice for all. The hopes for a peaceful 21st century were refuted only one year later with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The fear of the other and disrespect for diversity grew stronger, crisis hot spots flared in the Middle East, North Africa and in Europe. The expectations for economic growth and development were shaken on September 15, 2008, with the fall of Leehman Brothers and the events that followed.

Respected citizens,

Beside the disappointments, the hope that moves the world forward remained. But the realization of our hope does not depend on others, but on us. The six patriots who founded the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization knew it very well.

"There is no common extent where humans understand differently their place in the world," said Czeslaw Milosz.

Our rebels and partisans, Ilinden and ASNOM fighters, had different views and ideologies. Despite the differences, they had one thing in common - the idea of a free and independent Macedonian state.
The Republic of Macedonia is our common place in the world, our common home. The Republic of Macedonia is our common extent, what gives us a common view on our past, present and future. From this place, the Republic of Macedonia, we must have common strategic goals for our European and Euro-Atlantic future.

We need unity between government and opposition, between Macedonians and Albanians, Turks, Serbs, Vlachs, Roma, Bosniaks, between Christians, Muslims, Jews and atheists, so as to be able to persist in our goals.

Only in togetherness can we fulfill our historic mission - prosperous, happier, richer and more united European and Euro-Atlantic Macedonia.

Descendants and followers of the six heroes, Delchev, Gruev, Karev, Guli, follwoers of the glorious Brasnarov, Chuchkov, Pitu, Agoli, Cento, of all known and unknown heroes,

Congratulations on the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle!

Long live the Republic of Macedonia!