“Few of us are willing to accept that our diversity is our greatest advantage. That the more diverse we are, the richer our culture is and the broader the horizon is for advancement opportunities. It depends only on us whether and how much we are willing to accept those who are different from us, to respect them and to use their creativity for the common good”, says President Stevo Pendarovski for CIVIL within the framework of the initiative “A step forward towards a multicultural society”.

“Very often, unfortunately, we have known to turn this advantage of ours into our greatest weakness. Since our independence, we have witnessed constant attempts for manipulation of the citizens and the public by different sides, with the purpose of polarizing society based on ethnicity, religion and language. This breaks mutual trust, increases prejudice and worsens interethnic relations in society, which are otherwise the key to our internal stability.

I am deeply convinced that the way out of these situations is in building a society with equal opportunities for all, regardless of ethnic, linguistic, religious, social or any other affiliation. This practically means – equal opportunities for education, access to basic infrastructure, to social and health services, access to the labor market under equal conditions, work and merit-based career development.

Only with such a holistic approach, the “One Society for All” strategy will contribute to progress of the Republic of North Macedonia and its transformation into a contemporary state whose single reason for existence will be to enable a better and happier life for each of its citizens”, highlighted Pendarovski.

Translation: N. Cvetkovska