Ilinden is celebrated in North Macedonia as Republic Day, in memory of the first session of ASNOM in 1944.
Selakovic, after the liturgy, pointed out that Serbia nurtures the spirit of tolerance and friendship with its neighbours, as evidenced by today's gathering.
He expressed his satisfaction that this morning the joint liturgy of the Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox churches was served in the monastery, for the first time since the beginning of the Second World War.
With today's gathering, as he emphasised, we are showing the respect for tradition, historical heritage, and that we want to raise future generations in the spirit of good neighbourliness and tolerance.
We concluded that it is important to agree on the manner and places of commemoration at the state level, where the commemorations and celebrations will be held, said the Minister.
Pendarovski assessed that this is the beginning of a good tradition that this year the delegation of North Macedonia is celebrating its holiday in this place.
He expressed the expectation that this will continue in the future and added that he agreed with Minister Selakovic to establish a working group at the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries that will work on this.