Youth Council - Krusevo and Youth Cultural Centre - Bitola

Ilinden celebrated with young people's messages for tolerance

Two civic associations were honoured to take part in the official programme for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ilinden uprising on 21 July and 1 August this year in Krusevo.
The Youth Association from Krusevo and the Youth Cultural Centre from Bitola, supported by the Republic of Macedonia Ministry of Culture, have carried out a very interesting cultural and artistic programme that attracted the public's attention with its originality and the quality of performances.

One of the most interesting events was the European Youth Conference called "European values and tolerance in the Balkans", that took place from 28 July to 1 August and was attended by about 150 young people from Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Sweden, Belgium, Italy and other European countries. The final document from this conference, that is the European Declaration, was publicly promoted at the Krusevo Square on 1 August.

-We wanted Krusevo square to look similar to the squares in the developed European countries at least for one day. We also wanted to convey the message that Macedonia is one of the mainstays of the European values, civilization and culture, and the Ilinden Revolution is one of the key events which confirm that. The Krusevo Manifesot is a declaration of the freedom of thought, the tolerance and the coexistence of all citizens of Macedonia, said Mr Metodija Stojcevski from the Krusevo Youth Association.

After the European Youth Declaration had been read, a street pantomime theatre was held at the town square, followed by drawing graffiti. The night before, at the closing of the last Day of July, the String Quartet Arto and the band Foltin from Bitola had their performances, and Tomislav Neskovski from Kumanovo played on his flamenco-guitar. 

M.I.