Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

For a long time, we have been hostages of a perception of the Middle East as a powder keg threatening to blow up world peace and order. Paradoxically, the contours of this caricature were drawn less than a century ago, with the injustice committed to that same region that was used as a ground for demonstrating domination of foreign interests.

Today, we have gathered in London to achieve peace through justice and demonstrate solidarity.

After the Second World War, the Marshall Plan was, among other things, the expression of solidarity to a devastated Europe. Today, we are in need of a new Marshall Plan, not only for a devastated Syria, but for the Middle East. It is necessary to invest not only in road and energy infrastructure, but also in human, educational and social infrastructure.

Why is this important? By 2010, the average life expectancy of Syrians was 79.5 years of age. In 2014, their life expectancy fell to 55.7 years. This is the best illustration of the tragedy that happened to Syria. If young people from Syria and the wider region are not given hope to have a normal life in their home countries, then Europe cannot hope for a lasting peace either.

This is why we are joining the efforts to renew hope in Syria and in the entire region, for a normal life free of fear and poverty.

Excellencies,

In the past 13 months, over one million of migrants and refugees transited the territory of Macedonia, a country with a population of two million. This costs the Macedonian institutions tens of millions of Euros per year. Macedonia has been bearing this major financial burden related to the migrant and refugee crisis on its own.

However, in spite of this burden, the Republic of Macedonia, as a responsible and solidary member of the international community, within its capabilities, will contribute to the renewal of Syria.

Still, we can help in an even more substantial way.

Just as Macedonia is the East to the West, Syria is the West of the East. For centuries, we have lived within the same multiethnic, multireligious and multilingual empires. Up until the Syrian conflict, our two societies lived the world of diversity.

Today, when both order and diversity are in ruins, we must be very careful regarding the foundations on which we shall build the new Syria and the new Middle East. Experiences in the Balkans have shown that imposed post-conflict solutions are difficult to sustain. For the people of Syria, but also for the wider region, it is necessary for them to be able to shape the political decision based on their native political culture and tradition.

We are ready to share the blueprint of the Macedonian inclusive democratic model that implies integration without assimilation. We believe that the Macedonian model of coexistence is a solid foundation upon which the trust and respect of deepest religious differences in Syria and the region can be built.

It is only in this way that we will be able to restore the dignity of the people of that region, that was, for centuries, the centre of knowledge, trade and civilization, long before that centre was moved to the West.

Thank you.