Respected Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

Today, Macedonia celebrates 20 years of its independence, 20 years of its sovereignty, 20 years of its self-reliance.

We are gathered here, in front of this Museum, a Museum which reminds us on everything that preceded these 20 years of free Republic of Macedonia. A museum that reminds us of all people and events that marked the long road to Macedonian freedom.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Why the opening of this Museum of the Macedonian struggle is a historical event?

Because it enlights the hidden corners, the hidden periods of our history. It will enable our childrenand all future generations to learn who Chento, Brashnarov, Piruze, Polezhinovski and many others were, for whom, we as a generation, learnt in later years, as adults, since we became an independent country. Because they were hidden from us for ages. However, the day came when it cannot be hidden longer. The history was and still is truth – it may only be interpreted differently, but what happened is what remains. It cannot be changed according to the necessity. It is impossible others to write, re-write or distort our history. What happened to us is our history.

Therefore, this museum is not a museum of only one ideology. This is a Museum of all ideological orientations in Macedonia that emerged from the revolutionary movement, the struggle for freedom and from the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, as well as from the movements and organizations which preceded and which followed the struggle for liberation. In this Museum, there are socialists and anarchists, communists and conservatives. There are also autonomists and federalists. It is a testimony of the crimes of some communists that made other communists, socialists, revolutionaries suffer. Suffered both Ilinden Uprising fighters and Spanish Civil War fighters.

We should not forget Pavel Shatev, Gemidzhija, revolutionary, doctor of law, the first Minister of Justice of Macedonia! He was also Ilinden fighter, communist and patriot! He was convicted of collaboration with the Informbiro! Before that, he was twice sentenced to death and twice pardoned, by a sultan and a king, and eventually he died of what his countrymen ruled him. Indeed, that is our history.

We simply can not allow the dust of oblivion to cover again the great sacrificial work of Shatev and of the numerous Macedonian patriots who were unjustly forgotten, accused and tainted.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is a museum of all sons of Macedonia.

This museum is a monument of the untamable march to freedom! During Krusevo Republic, the government consisted of Macedonians but also Vlachs and Albanians, and not a single fellow countryman of other nationality has suffered by the hands of the Ilinden fighters. This is a museum of freedom for all and each and everyone who loves freedom!

In the museum, there are heroes and people distracted from the cause. Humanists and sinners. Notwithstanding, this museum calls for historical reconciliation and tells us to remember in order not to repeat the old mistakes.

The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle binds the first and the second Ilinden, particularly through the phenomenon of the victims. I am confident that we all have heard that the second Ilinden is continuity, a historical follow-up of the first. But how many of us have ever thought what the actual meaning of those words is?

The National Liberation War was a struggle for an independent Macedonia, and the leaders of the second Ilinden considered the later established Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia as a phase, as a historical stage for achieving the ultimate goal - an independent Macedonia.

The National Liberation War was primarily a struggle for the creation of a national state. This is more than clear, both in terms of the founding documents and the strong symbolism. Our state was constituted at the ASNOM, on the day of Ilinden, a great religious and national holiday. The establishment of modern Macedonia took place in the Church St. Prohor Pchinski. Was it possible for ideologically imbued communists-atheists to gather and to establish a state within a temple of God? Why the partisan detachments were named Damjan Gruev and Pitu Guli, instead of Marx and Engels, or named after Lenin? Well, here lies the continuity of the Macedonian national struggle.

Indeed, soldiers fought and died in the National Liberation War led by the communist idea, as an ideal of equality and justice. But they were also guided by the ideal of national self-determination. Therefore, today we bow before their sacrifice. We bow before the deeds of all those who bravely and sincerely in the years after the war contributed to the establishment and improvement of the new Macedonian republic.

Distinguished Guests,

Once again, we shall recall the Krusevo Manifesto, and then the founding documents of ASNOM! They were written by prominent intellectuals. When you read these historical documents it seems that you read the American Declaration of Independence or the Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen of the French Revolution. These are charters with timeless and universal meaning. The universal rights that were guaranteed to us since the founding of the modern state, oblige, inspire and guide us even today.

What makes us especially proud is that in all constituent documents of the Macedonian state, full inclusion of all regardless of ethnic and religious affiliation is guaranteed. Being a Macedonian implies respect for fellow citizens and inclusion of the best from the system of values of the other. This is the power of our country and of our national cause. To be a Macedonian is to be tolerant and to respect the culture and customs of the others. This was true in the past; even before Christ, as it was true in all eras and kingdoms present in this region, so it is today. That is Macedonia.

When the surrounding states were building authoritarian empires, kingdoms and principalities, Macedonians were building a republic, they thought of a Balkan federation which guarantees the rights of all nations as the only way to achieve lasting and sustainable Balkan peace.

And even today, Macedonians are searching for Balkan and European peace. I would like to assure you that in all my public appearances in every meeting I have I appeal for the Balkan integration into the European Union and NATO, as a prerequisite for the Balkan peace. However, without the Balkan peace, there is no European peace.

Never in history has a backward policy survived. The myths of one nation, one religion, one language in today’s global world cannot endure. The one who denies somone’s identity cannot defeat the one who preserves and promotes its own and shares it with others. The progress is unstoppable! The march of freedom throughout history will walk over those who oppose freedom!

Fellow citizens,

I begun with the concept of freedom and I will end with it. During the election campaign for President of the Republic of Macedonia, on one occasion I was asked what monument in Skopje I wanted to see. I answered - a monument of freedom. Today I stand proudly, together with you, here before such a monument. Monument that will always remind us of the priceless value of freedom and the great sacrifices invested to pay for it.

The wishes of our ancestors, of our fighters, came true. The freely expressed will of the citizens, passed on to those who voted for the Declaration of Independence, I am laying it hereby, today, as a symbol of reveries and aspirations of those who fought for it.

The realized vow came to those who died yearning for Macedonia! The foundation is laid on the foundation, everything is placed on its place, from today till eternity!

Long live free Macedonia!

Thank you.