|
ASNOM
declaration
shows
a
road
Macedonia
should
follow
Macedonian
Information
Agency
(Aug
03,
2004,
6:39:40
PM
(GMT+01:00)) (MIA) -
My
address
would
have
perhaps
been
similar
to
those
given
in
the
time
when
40th
or
50th
ASNOM
jubilees
were
celebrated;
today,
however,
many
things
are
different,
today
the
world
is
not
alike
the
one
of
60
years
ago,
today
we
are
in
the
process
in
which
everything
is
being
reconsidered,
starting
from
specific
fundamental
values
which
were
considered
by
some
as
unchangeable
or
absolute,
Parliament
Speaker
Ljupco
Joradnovski
said
Saturday
at
a
formal
session
dedicated
to
the
60th
anniversary
of
the
First
Session
of
the
Antifascist
Assembly
of
the
National
Liberation
of
Macedonia
(ASNOM),
held
on
August
2,
1944
in
the
St.
Prohor
Pcinski
Monastery.
The
citizens
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia,
like
all
of
us
present
here
today,
are
proud
that
the
decisions
of
the
historic
First
Session
of
ASNOM,
meant
realization
of
the
age-old
ideals
and
aspirations
of
the
Macedonian
people
and
all
the
other
peoples
that
have
lived
and
still
live
in
this
region
-
aspirations
for
freedom
and
for
their
own
state
as
a
guarantee
for
preservation
of
their
own
identity
and
sovereignty.
Those
are
historical
facts
that
are
to
be
denied
by
no
one.
What
we
should
all
be
particularly
proud
of
is
the
spirit
and
the
far-reaching
vision
of
the
ASNOM
acts
and
decisions.
Allow
me
to
read
for
you
several
articles
of
a
Declaration.
Article
1.
All
citizens
of
the
federal
Macedonian
state
are
equal
before
the
laws,
regardless
of
their
ethnicity,
gender,
race
or
religion.
Article
2.
National
minorities
in
Macedonia
shall
have
all
rights
to
a
free
national
life.
Article
3.
All
citizens
are
guaranteed
security
of
person
and
property,
and
they
are
all
guaranteed
the
right
to
ownership
and
private
initiative
in
the
economic
life.
Article
4.
All
citizens
are
guaranteed
freedom
of
religion
and
freedom
of
conscience.
Article
5.
All
citizens
are
guaranteed
freedom
of
speech,
press,
assembly,
agreement
and
association.
Article
6.
The
voting
rights
in
democratic
Macedonia
shall
be
exercised
by
voters
individually,
by
secret
ballot
at
general,
equal,
direct
elections.
Although
these
are
only
6
out
of
the
11
Articles
of
the
said
Declaration,
those
who
are
acquainted
with
the
ASNOM
documents
are
aware
that
it
is
the
question
of
the
ASNOM
DECLARATION
ON
THE
FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS
OF
CITIZENS
OF
DEMOCRATIC
MACEDONIA,
adopted
on
Ilinden,
2nd
of
August
1944
in
the
St.
Father
Prohor
Pcinski
Monastery,
precisely
at
its
First
Session.
Our
friends
from
the
international
community
will
recognize
the
UN
Universal
Declaration
on
Human
Rights
and
Freedoms,
adopted
over
a
year
later.
Therefore,
we
should
all
be
proud
and
bow
before
our
grand-fathers,
fathers
and
mothers
who
demonstrated,
60
years
ago,
a
universal
vision
not
only
for
the
development
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia,
but
for
the
entire
world.
They
laid
down
the
foundations
and
the
road
signs
that
we
and
the
future
generations
only
had
and
have
to
read
accurately.
For
me,
and
I
assume
for
the
others,
too,
amazing
is
the
fact
that
in
the
mentioned
six
articles
the
whole
and
the
real
truth
was
expressed
about
the
road
that
today's
independent
Republic
of
Macedonia
should
follow.
The
six
articles
offer,
in
a
visionary
manner,
the
solutions
for
all
our
future
steps
in
the
advance
towards
better
future.
The
determination
is
clear
in
the
First
Article
of
the
ASNOM
Declaration
that
the
future
state
should
be
civic
and
that
the
individual
rights
are
inviolable.
The
today's
generations
have
fulfilled
this
pledge
by
the
Constitution
of
the
independent
and
sovereign
Republic
of
Macedonia.
The
Second
Article
of
the
Declaration,
which
guarantees
to
the
national
minorities
in
Macedonia
the
right
to
free
national
life,
is
not
by
chance
the
second
in
order,
because
the
order
in
which
the
articles
are
given
is
also
symbolic
and
significant.
It
is
clear
that
our
parents,
when
laying
down
the
foundations
and
the
basic
principles
of
their
common
state,
pointed
to
the
co-existence
and
understanding
with
other
ethnic
communities,
as
imperatives
for
the
democratic
development
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia
and
its
endurance.
In
doing
so,
they
defined
these
rights
on
the
broadest
possible
basis
by
using
the
very
expression
"right
to
national
life".
For
all
who
want
and
have
courage
to
read
this
Article
of
the
Declaration
in
its
essence,
it
is
clear
that
it
anticipates
the
Framework
Agreement,
because
the
corps
of
rights
that
determine
the
right
to
national
life
is
simply
not
a
static
or
unchangeable
category,
but
are
rather
amended,
built
up
with
the
very
change
and
emergence
of
new
ethical,
moral,
political
and
democratic
values
which
more
and
more
become
the
fundamental
principles
of
the
world
processes.
If
this
was
not
so,
the
world
today
would
still
have
been
in
the
dark
Middle
Age.
The
question
that
is
being
raised
is
whether
or
when
this
strong
message
of
our
parents
has
been
forgotten
or
lost?
The
third
article
of
the
ASNOM
Declaration,
in
a
truly
visionary
manner,
acknowledges
that
fast
economic
and
democratic
development
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia
is
only
possible
if
the
security
of
persons,
property
and
ownership
and
the
right
to
private
economic
initiative
are
guaranteed.
Today
we
call
it
a
free,
competitive
market
economy,
based
on
the
private
initiative
and
property,
as
an
indispensable
rather
than
only
sufficient
pre-condition
for
fast
economic
development
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia.
Looking
at
the
other
articles
of
the
Declaration,
in
an
attempt
to
read
into
their
real
meaning,
freeing
oneself
from
certain
historical
frustrations,
in
the
guaranteed
right
to
religion
and
freedom
of
conscience
one
is
able
to
recognize
the
today's
Constitutional
right
of
all
religious
communities
for
their
own
exercise
of
beliefs,
as
well
as
the
right
of
every
citizen
to
have
its
own
view
and
belief
and
to
voice
it
publicly
and
freely
and
to
struggle,
looking
for
co-believers,
no
matter
how
much
they
are
incompatible
with
the
new
trends
and
visions
for
democratic
development
of
our
state.
The
Declaration
does
not
miss
on
an
extensive
activity
of
the
society,
namely
the
guaranteed
right
to
freedom
of
speech,
press,
assembly,
agreement
and
freedom
of
association.
Speaking
in
the
language
of
today's
reality,
this
point
of
the
ASNOM
Declaration
lays
down
the
foundations
of
a
multi-party
system,
existence
of
numerous
parties
politically
representing
various
societal
or
interest
groups.
Naturally,
the
effect
of
this
right
would
be
solely
formal
unless
the
freedom
of
press
and
public
word
is
allowed,
as
one
of
the
most
efficient
democratic
methods,
which
ensure
that
various
concepts
and
views
on
the
development
of
Macedonian
society
reach
its
ordinary
citizens.
Therefore,
we
should
unreservedly
admire
our
ancestors
who
have
fully
and
to
no
exception
codified
the
complexity
of
this
right
in
the
Declaration.
Eventually,
as
the
high
point
of
every
democracy
and
the
truth
that
citizens
are
the
source
of
everylegitimacy
and
of
the
sovereignty
of
every
country,
the
Article
6
reads:
The
voting
right
in
democratic
Macedonia
shall
be
exercised
by
voters
individually
by
secret
ballot
at
general,
equal,
direct
elections.
There
is
no
need
to
comment
on
this
kind
of
visionary,
and
above
all
timeless
and
eternal
truth,
unless
we
have
virtue
for
certain
embarrassment
and
self-criticism
and
note
that
after
60
years
of
free
national,
cultural
and
scientific
development,
the
new
Constitution
which
was
revised
with
the
amendments
under
the
Framework
Agreement,
was
almost
written,
in
a
visionary
manner
and
in
only
six
articles,
in
the
ASNOM
Declaration.
The
generations
of
that
time,
which
led
the
Macedonian
people
and
the
other
peoples
towards
the
realization
of
the
centuries-old
dream
to
establish
their
own
state,
have
understood
and
evaluated
properly
the
world
geo-political
tendencies
and
developments.
With
filigree-like
precision,
step-by-step,
decisions
that
we
are
now
proud
of
were
wisely
chosen
and
made.
We
are
proud
that
Macedonia
was
at
the
side
of
the
great
world
alliance
in
the
fight
against
fascism.
This
accurate
way
of
reading
the
world
tendencies,
on
the
basis
of
our
own
interests
and
the
desire
for
finding
just
and
realistic
solution,
is
one
of
the
crucial
moments
for
successful
struggle
for
free
Macedonia.
The
Macedonian
epopee
of
6o
years
ago
ended
victoriously
thanks
to
the
existence
of
historical,
national,
inter-ethnic
and
organizational
basis,
thanks
to
its
visionary
colour
and
definition
and
because
that
struggle
was
ready
to
give
and
gave
huge
numbers
of
victims.
Because
it
was
progressive
and
because
it
had
the
progressive
world
behind.
In
the
current
situations,
we
may
draw
interesting
and
didactic
parallels.
Today,
our
generation,
which
is
responsible
for
the
future
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia
and
its
development,
is
again
posed
against
a
historic
responsibility
to
find
the
right
ways
and
give
right
answers
to
the
challenges
before
us.
In
this
new
millennium,
they
are
not
the
same
as
those
that
our
fathers
faced
60
or
more
years
ago.
The
world
is
not
the
same.
The
world
is
being
built
upon
new
foundations
and
value
principles.
And
therefore,
we
need
the
same
wisdom
of
our
ancestors,
we
need
their
courage
to
oppose
the
flattery
songs
which
take
us
back
in
the
past
or
keep
us
in
the
present
time
which,
as
early
as
tomorrow
transforms
into
surpassed
and
unpromising
past.
We
have
already
applied
such
wisdom
with
the
Ohrid
Agreement,
returning
to
the
original
principles
of
the
ASNOM
wisdom.
There
are
understandings
and
tendencies
in
politics
and
in
the
broader
societal
environment,
which
look
upon
the
modern
developments
and
standards
as
something
endangering
the
Macedonian
idea
and
Macedonian
state.
We
cannot
mythologize
the
Macedonian
National
Cause,
close
it
or
isolate
it
before
the
bursts
of
modern
time,
to
put
it
under
glass
bell
of
normative
solutions
we
have
strived
for.
On
the
contrary,
we
should
prepare
our
citizens
for
this
open
competition
with
the
quality
of
our
cultural,
sport,
economic
and
other
offer,
much
more
aggressively
and
in
a
better
way
than
we
did
at
the
time
when
the
state
exclusivities
and
ideological
axioms
were
considered
to
have
solved
all
the
problems.
And
we
have
to
be
aware
that
this
competition
for
national
and
civic
promotion
has
no
end.
We
should
contain
the
negative
stereotypes
by
which
people
explain,
but
also
by
which
people
are
being
explained,
all
their
misfortunes:
those
are,
namely,
the
stereotypes
of
divisions,
neighbours,
someone's
role
as
a
betrayer,
etc.
Let
us
take
upon
ourselves
the
responsibility
for
our
failure
to
handle
things.
Let
us
spread
the
awareness
that
huge
part
of
the
responsibility
for
the
developments
and
prospects
of
Macedonia
are
our
domestic
responsibilities.
Our
fathers
have
indeed
known
this
and
therefore
they
succeeded
in
establishing
our
state
in
the
given
historical
constellation.
Macedonia
is
multiethnic
-
this
fact
is
undeniable.
We
are
now
proceeding
with
important
transformations
of
our
normative
system
in
that
direction
and
with
shaping-up
of
the
political
system,
while
respecting
that
fact.
Today,
a
person
cannot
call
himself
a
great
Macedonian
or
a
great
Albanian
if
he
fences
up
a
portion
of
land
and
says
that
he
owns
it.
Not
because
the
today's
international
community
does
not
recognize
or
acknowledge
this
as
a
principle
of
identification,
but
because
in
this
region
of
thousands
of
years
of
history
and
culture,
if
one
digs
slightly
deeper,
one
can
always
find
evidence
of
some
others'
aspirations
to
certain
area.
However,
I
would
be
always
ready
to
admit
that
a
person
is
a
great
Macedonian
or
a
great
Albanian
if
he
creates
great
spiritual,
cultural
or
scientific
deeds
that
will
never
be
covered
by
the
layers
of
coming
times.
Only
such
deeds
are
guaranteed
eternity
and
everlasting
life.
Therefore,
we
need
to
seize
again
the
stone
of
wisdom
that
has,
actually,
always
been
here,
within
our
arms'
reach,
bestowed
as
a
legacy
by
our
fathers
and
grandfathers.
Therefore,
we
should
return
to
the
ASNOM's
original
principles
that,
as
I
said,
should
be
read
properly
and
farsightedly.
Similarly
as
the
ASNOM
solutions
themselves
used
the
wisdom
of
their
ancestors
and
have,
paying
due
respect,
incorporated
in
the
documents
the
visionary
thought
-
THAT
WE
UNDERSTAND
THE
WORLD
AS
A
FIELD
FOR
CULTURAL
COMPETITION
AMONGST
PEOPLES.
This
is,
distinguished
guests,
our
stone
of
wisdom
that
we
should
share
with
all
the
well-intentioned
people
in
the
country
and
throughout
the
world.
We
should
not
only
persist
on
the
road
towards
the
European
Union
and
the
North-Atlantic
Alliance
as
our
first-priority
strategic
orientations,
but
we
should
also
understand
that
painful
reforms
of
the
system
and
of
ourselves,
of
our
understanding
of
Macedonia
await
us
on
that
road.
Reforms
may
be
carried
out
in
one
way
or
the
other,
and
in
that
sense
it
is
beneficial
to
have
different
views
and
models,
but
we
need
an
unambiguous
consensus
that
the
deep
changes
are
a
necessity
and
we
should
remove
this
part
from
the
political
struggle.
We
have
to
behave
ourselves
in
the
most
strict
manner
towards
the
responsibilities
we
have
taken
upon
ourselves,
such
as
are
those
under
the
Framework
Agreement,
as
well
as
all
the
EU
and
NATO
standards
to
which
we
have
committed
ourselves.
We
should
proudly
bow
and
pay
tribute
to
all
those
that
have
invested
themselves
in
our
history,
not
sparing
themselves.
Our
debt
is
to
continue
this
road,
recognizing
the
right
direction;
to
have
enough
reason
and
force
to
open
more
widely
the
future
prospects
for
the
stability
and
development
of
the
Republic
of
Macedonia
and
its
promotion
in
Europe
and
the
world.
©
2000
MIA
-
Macedonian
Information
Agency.
All
Rights
Reserved.
This
material
may
not
be
published,
broadcast,
rewritten
or
redistributed
in
any
form
except
with
the
prior
express
permission
of
Macedonian
Information
Agency.
|
