Celebrating the 30th anniversary of North Macedonia’s entrance in the United Nations

Respected Ministers, Excellencies, Dear Director of State Archives,  

Dear colleagues, dear friends:  

It is a great pleasure to be here with you today, jointly celebrating the 30th anniversary of North Macedonia’s membership in the United Nations family. Looking at some of the photos here it seems that development paths of the UN and North Macedonia are intrinsically intertwined. One cannot deny the role played by the United Nations in North Macedonia, from the very beginning, until today. But I would rather use this opportunity and talk about the role that is often unseen, hidden under the burdens of crises, challenges, and other daily priorities. 

Dear friends, today, I would rather talk about the role that North Macedonia plays in the United Nations, because the UN is about multilateralism and North Macedonia has been a true advocate for multilateralism ever since 8 April 1993. In the context of a world that is continuously challenging us on every front, multilateralism is being tested on an ongoing basis. In all challenges faced, in all decisions made, no matter how difficult and taxing, North Macedonia never challenged the importance of working together, and this is something that must be recognized and must be celebrated. So today we are celebrating a committed family member of the United Nations, one who has fully grasped that only jointly can we surpass the crises faced and create a better future for everyone. In the true spirit of multilateralism, North Macedonia also acknowledged the fact that the UN belongs to and depends on everyone.  

Today I also want to acknowledge the active participation of the country in all international bodies, in all committees, in all discussions and in all processes of the United Nations. To acknowledge the demonstration of trust given to the UN in assisting in solving some of the most challenging obstacles to the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspiration, such as the name issue with Greece. Much like the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN itself demonstrates a commitment by the people of the world represented by the UN Member States to jointly work towards achieving peace, prosperity, and respect for human rights – everywhere and for everyone. 

In that sense, North Macedonia is continuously demonstrating commitment to the Agenda 2030, despite all challenges faced. The country finalized its first Voluntary National Review in 2020 to monitor the progress achieved towards Agenda 2030, in a very difficult context, at the outset of the Covid19 pandemic. In the past few years, the entire world has been facing a triple crisis of climate breakdown, air pollution and biodiversity loss; immense suffering caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the effects of  violent conflicts. The ripple effects of the war in Ukraine have contributed to surging food and energy prices that are affecting many countries like North Macedonia, causing uncertainty and even some backsliding from the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. But in all these challenges, North Macedonia remained committed not to act selfishly and to work together to eradicate hunger and poverty, to protect the planet and to ensure a better, fairer, and greener future for us and for all future generations.  

Moreover, North Macedonia committed to formulate a long-term national vision that embeds inclusion, sustainability and anticipatory governance planning, all key aspects of international development. And while the UN family and our donors and development partners have fully committed to assist in this process, national ownership is key to ensure continuity of the development path. In that context, let me also use this opportunity to congratulate all national stakeholders on this commitment to build an inter-generational, inter-ethnic, inter-party and gender consensus on the country development.  

To conclude, today we are not just celebrating 30 years of the acceptance of North Macedonia in the UN family. We are celebrating 30 years of a significantly enriched and strengthened UN family with North Macedonia’s active participation in the UN Family. In 4 years as UN Resident Coordinator, I am proud to see the country with so many joint successes with the UN – North Macedonia Cooperation Framework and I wish you all the best in your path forward. 

Together, we will achieve the future that we all want to see, a future in which no one is left behind.