Bitola, 6 September 2023 (MIA) – The European Union fosters the “United in Diversity” motto, and this is no coincidence, said Minister of Cultura Bisera Kostadinovska-Stojchevska at an open discussion on Wednesday in Bitola, as part of the “We are Europe” campaign.

“When we speak about culture on a European level,” she stressed, “we don’t only think of art, of cultural monuments, of identity, language, tradition, but, we think of the overall daily life, of our values and principles.”

“Culture is that which binds the 27 EU member states who are different from each other. This means that the EU protects and nurtures the cultures of the people of its member states, their language and cultural heritage. That’s why the citizens should know that there is no danger of losing the Macedonian identity or reducing the importance of the Macedonian language, identity, culture once we become EU members. No country has lost its identity by becoming an EU member state, and neither will we. We won’t lose anything, we will remain Macedonians, who speak the Macedonian language, who have their own cultural monuments, because culture is not negotiated in the accession negotiations. European culture is defined as a collection of national cultures,” said Minister Kostadinovska-Stojchevska in her address at the “EU for the Macedonian cultural heritage” open discussion held in Bitola.

Photo: MIA