Skopje, 6 May 2023 (MIA) - When we are talking about the 30 years of our United Nations membership, one cannot but speak about the period when the country became independent. As a student, I witnessed and took part in the processes of transformation of the Macedonian society into a multi-party system, guided by the ideology of creating an independent and sovereign state. Both then and now, we are a model of stability in the region and a model of fostering multiethnicity, diversity and uniqueness of our fellow citizens, Deputy PM for Good Governance Policies, Slavica Grkovska, told panel "Civil Society and Solidarity", held at the United Nations on occasion of the 30th anniversary of North Macedonia's UN membership.

The panel also included Ivana Živković, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States at UNDP, Uranija Pirovska of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, and Erasmus Strategic Partnership coordinator Viki Mladenova,

"Observance of the 30th anniversary from North Macedonia's UN accession overlaps with the 75th anniversary from the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, I am pleased this panel is dedicated to the core of the global family of nations and the care that every country pays to the well-being and prosperity of its people. Because the fulfillment of our aspirations for independence and recognized statehood must also mean the fulfillment of the conditions for a dignified life and development of every individual," said Deputy PM Grkovska.

The Deputy PM said a consensus on the inviolability of human rights must be built, whereas only by respecting those unalienable rights can people live and create in freedom and peace, building societies that ensure equal rights for all, the Government said in a press release.

"Freedom still has many enemies. This is seen in the rise of the so-called illiberal movements based on intolerance, prejudices, restrictions to free expression. Resistance to advancement of human rights and tendency of depriving rights that had been acquired long ago lies in their core. This is one of the most important battles of our time," cautioned Grkovska.

Photo: Government