Home

Today the Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski at a session of the Macedonia Parliament addressed the MPs on occasion of the current political and safety situation in the country.

Addressing before the present MPs, Prime minister Ljubcho Georgievski, the ministers and members of the diplomatic core, President Trajkovski expressed his sympathies to the families of the killed soldiers who died defending the territorial sovereignty, peace and stability of their father-land. Trajkovski said that the history of this country would always remember their names.

Speaking about the momentary situation, President Trajkovski said that in the context of the current crisis, this was a terrorist attack against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia.
"The extremists forces have cleaned the villages and they have fortified themselves and this resulted in the provocation we are witnessing. There were victims as well. but in order to be entirely clear, we will not negotiate with terrorism, militarism and elements of racial and ethnic hatred. They should be and will be politically and militarily defeated and driven out of from the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. Everyone in Macedonia, in the region and in the international community must know that the possible success of terrorism and ethnic extremism is the beginning of the end of peace and stability in the region. This is when interethnic relations in the Republic of Macedonia will be put to test. If we yield before terrorism, this will be a mortal strike on the interethnic relations. Militant extremism strikes directly all initiatives of peaceful solution of disputes, all tendencies for political and democratic dialogue. Violence can easily transform the tolerance built for years into a destructive hatred. Therefore, I am convinced that all factors in the region, including the international community must show a high level of awareness and determination in preventing militant extremism. Just the opposite there will be no room for the decade long principals of international law, nor for political dialogue, nor peace. Therefore, the victory over terrorism and extremism strengthens interethnic relations and stability because this will legitimize the political platforms of the Albanian parties in the Republic of Macedonia, which clearly condemned the positions of ethnic extremism", said Trajkovski.

The Macedonian President assured the public that they will know how to respond to provocation from terrorism and that they will succeed. No inch of Macedonian territory will be ceded to extremism and terrorism. All diplomatic and political efforts are in that direction.

"In this regard, as a President of the Republic of Macedonia and Supreme Commander of the Macedonian Army, I have issued the necessary commands. Daily consolations are under way and we have reached a common platform of internal political factors and the international community. We have sufficient power and determination to deal with terrorism and provocation ourselves, but we welcome the support of our neighbors", said Trajkovski.

"Together with our partners from the international community, we are aware that in this crucial moment the most important thing is to avoid helping the enemy in his attempts and expectations to destroy good interethnic relations. This is a very fragile area. And we all know the sequence of events from the experience of our neighborhood in the recent years. we also know the cost it comes with. Therefore, we are determined that we must not give any chance to undermine the interethnic relation from outside", said Trajkovski.

Trajkovski also commended the members of the Macedonian Army and police for their highly patriotic and profession approach in dealing with well-armed bandit groups.
President Trajkovski also spoke about the situation in Kosovo.

"The situation in Kosovo has crucial importance for peace, stability and prosperity throughout the region. The new Belgrade leadership has not only shown readiness to take a new approach in solving new problems in South Serbia , which is in our immediate neighborhood. The international community has welcomed this approach", said Trajkovski.
"For the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed an attempt for spillover of instability in Kosovo to Macedonia. When I say Kosovo, I do not refer to the Kosovo population and / or concretely the Albanians. I refer to some extremist forces in Kosovo. If the Albanian population in Kosovo wished to destabilize Macedonia, it could have done that much more easily during the Kosovo crisis when their number on our territory reached 350,000 people", said Trajkovski.
"The situation in Kosovo is still complex today, and I believe that it will take a long time to stabilize it. The status and the administration with Kosovo are defined by UN Resolution 1244. All authorities and obligations of the international factors involved in this complex operation are clearly defined in it. Allow me to remind you in some obligations stemming from this Resolution protection of borders towards Albania and Macedonia, preserving the territorial integrity of neighboring countries, inviolability of borders and preventing the spillover of instability", said Trajkovski.

According to Trajkovski, the last events at the border line have clearly shown that the obligation was not fulfilled.
"We are aware of the complexity of the KFOR tasks in Kosovo. Throughout the whole of Kosovo and on the border with Macedonia. Following our consistent pointing out at the last meetings with the high representatives of the political segment of NATO and its member-countries, as well as with the KFOR representatives, progress was achieved in our relations. We already have concrete results on this level", said Trajkovski.

Trajkovski also spoke about the joint opinion of the SEECP countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, FR Yugoslavia and Turkey) at the Skopje Summit.

"The countries unanimously agreed to contribute to the realization of he common commitment for building peace, stability and progress in our countries and throughout the entire region. We have committed ourselves to further strengthening good neighborly relations, security and democracy in this part of Europe", said Trajkovski.
"We hope that soon we will be in the position to conclude that these dilemmas are just momentary and that retrograde forces do not have the capacity and support to block the will and the strives of the suffering peoples in the Balkans, to live in peace, prosperity and in a democratic and united Europe", said Trajkovski.

"It all depend on us. Of course, I would not like to diminish at this moment the role of the factors of the international community as well. Their role is also clear here. Neither we nor the international community can allow ourselves to be hostages of extremist groups, terrorists and adventurers, of any ideological, lucrative or national origin. We should resolutely deal with them. If these extremists and destructive tendencies are to continue, the efforts of the international; community for creating multi-ethnic societies will be threatened. If we do not identify, isolate and punish the forces which make obstacles, then we can expect a new wave of turbulence and violence in the region", said Trajkovski.

Trajkovski closed his statement with the conclusion that the armed groups are attacking our common peace.
"The citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are fully aware of this and know how to recognize it. They maintain a long memory of history with regard to the common life in good and bad times. They want peace for their children and a better future. They want to cherish their culture and tradition, and to travel and get acquainted with other people as well. Therefore, all of us want with dignity to enter the European Family of nations where we consider our place to be. And this can be achieved by us, only if we behave in the spirit of democratic and civilized societies. Therefore, I am calling on our citizens from this stand, now and in the future, to oppose decisively all attempts to delay us on our path", said Trajkovski.

"Now I call all political parties to show constructiveness on the ground in order to prevent tensions and doubts in the capacity of the state to do that it is supposed to do. As President of the Republic of Macedonia, I call for unity in protecting all means for stability of the state and the serenity in our homes. I would like to assure all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia not to doubt our determination and readiness to use all means in our disposal to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity and the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. I call the citizens living in those border areas, who under threat or out of fear have abandoned their homes to return there and not to succumb to speculation attempts and to avoid entering scenarios of media propaganda.", said Trajkovski.

At the end, the Macedonia President addressed his fellow citizens.

"At this moment, it is extremely important to show unity and to extend the message that Macedonia is a civil society committed to tolerance and cohabitation. We have shown that we know the direction to take in nurturing the century long traditional tolerance in interethnic relations and in development of democracy, respect of human rights and transition towards market-oriented economy. Today, when we are starting to enjoy the fruits of this vision, we must not allow to abandon our visionary path. Our century-long historical experience and collective memory teach us that we should defend together our country. This is what we did. Now when the territorial integrity is threatened we must defend it together again, since Macedonia is our common home", said Trajkovski.

In the address at the UN Security Council Session in New York, Srgjan Kerim, Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, briefed on the latest happenings along the northern borderline of Macedonia with the Yugoslav Province of Kosovo, emphasizing that Macedonia faces a serious problem, caused by some unidentified military groups.Kerim informed that the extremists have no demands from the Macedonian officials, but they hold the local citizens, ethnic Albanians consciously, as a serious warning that the whole region near the border with Kosovo can always be used as a source of incidents.

"The problem we face with, needs political, diplomatic and security measures to be undertaken," said Kerim adding that the Macedonian Government together with the President Boris Trajkovski undertakes numerous activities in order to find peaceful decision in cooperation with the international community.Displaying the action plan, passed by the Macedonian Government in order to solve the current situation, Kerim said that this plan corresponds with the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which includes: urgent activities on ground safety zone creation throughout the border region between Macedonia and Yugoslavia; creation of conditions for returning the inhabitants of Tanusevci back to their homes; emergency actions by KFOR in cases of some military and para military movements and weapon deliveries, as well as continual coordination between the Macedonian and KFOR forces. According to this plan Macedonian Government should undertake additional measures in this region, in order to prevent the outgrowth of the conflict, especially by strengthening the police control with new police units.

"The UN Security Council should be aware that the incident in the village of Tanusevci has to be seen in a wider context. It is not just about Tanusevci or Macedonia. It is about the whole Balkan region and its transformation in a peaceful, stable, democratic and progressive European region," said Kerim.Pointing out the importance of the role of UNMIK and KFOR in this region, Minister Kerim said that the Macedonian citizens hope that KFOR will undertake certain measures. "It should be made clear that this time our objective is not only to protect the Macedonian northern border, but also to protect the values, which we have in common with the people from the states, represented by you, such as: peace, freedom and democracy in a multiethnic and multicultural country as Macedonia is," stressed Kerim."This is the way in which we could operate together, providing preconditions for peaceful and democratic development of the Balkans, with secure, steady and transparent borders," said Kerim at the end of his address, aimed to ask for a support of the action plan suggested by the Republic of Macedonia.