Mucunski: Civil Society Must Rise Above Ethnic Divisions

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timço Mucunski said the country has achieved the maturity and capacity needed to overcome ethnic divisions and create a genuine civil society. According to him, the focus should be first and foremost on the challenges of the 21st century and today’s realities, since the institutions, the system and, above all, the state belong to the citizens.

Mucunski made these remarks during the panel discussion “The Future of the Ohrid Agreement and Building Lasting Peace,” organized to mark the 25th anniversary of the Ohrid Agreement.

He explained that today’s discussion is not intended to revisit 2001, but rather to answer the question of what kind of country we want to have in 2051. According to the minister, this means learning lessons from the past while focusing much more attention on the country’s future development.

Mucunski stressed that rights are permanent, while societies must continue to move forward. He emphasized that rights acquired under the constitutional and legal framework, as well as those stemming from the broader understanding of human rights, cannot be revised or called into question.

The minister cited the presence of individuals and political entities, mainly parties, that seek to portray themselves as the owners of a particular community on ethnic grounds as his greatest political concern in society.

According to Mucunski, these entities act as though only they can protect the rights of an ethnic community or safeguard the stability of interethnic relations in the country. He warned that this is the most dangerous proposition that can be allowed to exist in the country.