This year’s National Uprising Day festivities organized by the government are held Sunday in line with public health protocols and under the slogan, “Happy October 11, Always Free!.”
There will be no mass gatherings or art performances. Events will take place with a limited number of attendees, and mask wearing and physical distance will be mandatory, the government has said in a press release.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is scheduled to attend an event in Kumanovo observing the 79th anniversary of the National Uprising. The event will begin with a flower-laying ceremony at the Memorial Ossuary at 11 am.
PM Zaev will be accompanied by a delegation including Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska, Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski, and Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini.
To observe the national holiday, government delegations will also lay flowers in Prilep and Skopje.
In Prilep, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, and Minister of Education and Science Mila Carovska will lay flowers at several memorials, including those to Metodija Andonov-Chento, Kuzman Josifovski-Pitu, and the Woman Warrior.
In Skopje, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the Monument to the Liberators of Skopje. The delegation will be led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Political System Artan Grubi and will include Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska, Justice Minister Bojan Marichikj, and Health Minister Venko Filipche.
The rebellion to liberate the country from Bulgarian, Italian and German occupying forces began after the first Prilep partisan unit attacked the Bulgarian police station and the telephone network in Prilep on Oct. 11, 1941. The next day, the partisans of the Kumanovo unit also organized an attack.
October 11 is considered a continuation of the progressive traditions of the Macedonian freedom-loving people, evident in similar revolts in the 19th and 20th century, but also in efforts made for social and national liberation during the Balkan Wars and the First World War.
By deciding to join the anti-fascist coalition, Macedonia stood on the side of progressive humanity fighting against fascism.
The people won their own freedom. Starting with the first partisan units, the National Liberation Army of Macedonia by the end of the 4-year war was turned into a well-organized, 110,000-strong army with high-ranking military formations.
The years of struggle were crowned by decisions reached at the First Session of ASNOM in 1944 under which the centuries-long ideals for a Macedonian state had become a reality.
The country in 2020 is marking the National Uprising Day as a member of the United Nations and NATO all the while anticipating to hold its first intergovernmental conference with the EU, which marks the start of accession talks with the bloc.
