President Branko Crvenkovski addressed the nation on the occasion of 8 September, Independence Day of the Republic of Macedonia, and underlined that after 16 difficult years of transition, Macedonia had grown into a country well established in the international community with a clear vision of being a member of NATO and the European Union.

The Macedonian President stressed that this was a hard, challenging and historical period during which Macedonia faced denial, security threats, embargos and sanctions. This was a period, he said, of wars around us and a conflict at home. Nevertheless, Macedonia managed to reaffirm its historical maturity and full responsibility for being part of the international family of nations.

At the end of his speech, the President called on all the factors in the country to forget about all political divides and ethnic differences and to focus all together on attaining Macedonia's strategic commitments over which there is ethnic, political and social consensus.