Skopje, 31 July 2023 (MIA) — To mark Ilinden, the Day of the Republic, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski will address a ceremony at the Kale Fortress in Skopje on Aug. 2, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi will attend a celebration at Mechkin Kamen in Krushevo, and President Stevo Pendarovski will speak at the ASNOM Memorial Center in Pelince, according to an official press release.

This year's celebrations will be held under the slogan "120 years of Ilinden, the Hearth of the Motherland." They will kick off in Krushevo on Aug. 1, with an event titled "Ten Days of the Krushevo Republic" during which PM Kovachevski is expected to give a speech, the release says.

On Aug. 2 in Skopje, Kovachevski will address a gathering at Kale while government delegations will lay flowers at several locations in the city.

The prime minister will be joined by a government delegation led by First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Bytyqi, and Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska.

A delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski, and Deputy Minister of Justice Viktorija Avramovska Madikj will lay flowers at the ASNOM Memorial in the Woman Warrior park, at the Nikola Karev Memorial in front of Parliament, and at the Metodija Andonov Chento Memorial at the City Square.

in Krushevo, Parliament Speaker Xhaferi will lead a delegation that includes Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska, and Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri.

The delegation will lay flowers at the Nikola Karev tomb inside the Makedonium monument at Gumenje, at the Monument to Fallen Fighters on Sliva Hill, and at the Mechkin Kamen Monument. Xhaferi will also give a speech.

President Stevo Pendarovski will address a gathering at the ASNOM Memorial Center in Pelince, honoring the First Assembly of ASNOM, the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia.

President Pendarovski will be joined by a government delegation including Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Kaja Shukova, and Minister of Information Society and Administration Azir Aliu.

In Smilevo, a delegation consisting of Deputy Minister of Finance Filip Nikolovski and national coordinator Robert Alagjozovski will lay flowers at the Dame Gruev tomb, at the Monument of the Smilevo Ilinden Fighters, and the Memorial plaque of the partisan detachment “Dame Gruev” and attend the traditional Ilinden celebration organized by the Municipality of Demir Hisar. mr/