Distinguished Presidents,
Distinguished personal representatives,
Distinguished experts,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to address the participants to this Regional Forum "Dialogue among Civilizations", which is being held in Ohrid, the Republic of Macedonia, and to wish you a warm-hearted welcome in this country which throughout its centuries long history has strongly marked the cultural heritage of the entire humanity. Welcome to this spiritual city of Ohrid, which for several millennia has been one of the centres of the pan European culture. This city represents a pantheon of Macedonian memory. You need only a glimpse on this soil to discover the prehistoric Great Mother, described by the legends as the mother of light and sun.

The magnificent constructions from ancient times and early Christianity and the odysseys of several Empires, religions and cultures, which from Macedonia have opened the universalism and humanism at one of the first universities founded in this legendary city by Ss. Clement and Naum of Ohrid, the disciples of Ss. Cyril and Methodius who in 1980, 11 centuries after they died, have been proclaimed as patrons of Europe. These disciples, in the medieval obscurantism have opened the horizon called civilization of love and need for unity.

Let the civilization of love and need for unity be my today's welcome to all of you, as there is great symbolism in the fact that this regional gathering is being held in the Republic of Macedonia. 

Every citizen of my country is proud to have you here today, in this cradle of humanism which for centuries is bearing this magical name of Macedonia, which believes in the civilization of love and gives clear proof of it. Despite the hard times we went through in 2001 when the world media used to call us “Macedonia or the threatened ideal”, the fact that you are all present here today and that Macedonia has been chosen by the United Nations and UNESCO, upon my initiative, to host this Forum proves that this country may be the model of the ideal of harmony in the pan humanist civilization that must never be threatened.

We should not forget that the reality and the philosophy of enduring of Macedonia is: Wherever there is killing, we are being killed all together! The multicultural, multi confessional, multi linguistic reality, has allowed the people of Macedonia to fully adjust their awareness to the necessity for dialogue. The millennia long tradition of cooperation and cohabitation turned its citizens into true artists in promoting civilized standards while trying to cope with all differences and in resolving even most radical conflict of interests. 

Ancient legends, preserved until today, the early Christianity, the beginnings of Slavic literacy and its place of origin, testify for the crucial importance of the dialogue in these areas. The act of accepting the Jews, after their exodus from the Pyrenean Peninsula, in 1492, was neither new nor unusual to the people from this soil, who in that period already had a 2000 years of experience of inter-civilization dialogue. One of the oldest universities, the St. Clement’s school, from the 10th century, has been nurturing a spirit of understanding and cooperation among different cultures. Only in Macedonia you can find today a church from the 11th century, a mosque from the 15th century, a synagogue and a dervish teke standing side by side.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The highest social values and ideals derive from the postulate on the dignity of each human being in the spirit of our own historical tradition and the commitments explicitly stated in the Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations. Each individual is and should be respected as a person. He is the pillar and holder of human rights and freedoms. He is the cause and reason for the realization of all the freedom and dignity of the human world in general. A free society can be created, only upon the existence of free individuals, who are sovereign in choosing their political status and in following their own economic, social and cultural development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The imperative of affirming the principal of dialogue is more present than ever before. It is a fact that the human race is living dispersed in numerous cultural contexts and civilizing models leading them to common ideals. It is also a fact that hierarchical relations that would put some above the others, or which would affirm some and discredit others can not and must not be established among them. There are no superior or inferior cultures, there are no superior or inferior civilizations, and there are no superior or inferior races, languages and religions. This is because there are no superior or inferior human beings.

This is the reason why we must accept the essential equality of each cultural tradition and recognize the value of each civilizing experience as an invaluable and integral part of the human universal values. Common tasks can be achieved and highest ideals of modern world followed not through assimilation but through integration, and not by force but by dialogue. This is the reason why dialogue is the only way proper to mankind, who needs to live, aware of the starry sky above him and the moral law within him.

Unfortunately, the dialogue is not the only way in which cultures and civilizations have communicated throughout history until today. We are witnessing violence, aggression, wars, terrorism both at regional and global level. Undoubtedly, South East Europe is still one of the most vulnerable areas. But than, the world would be an idyllic place if it only had this region to deal with! The world’s history book has no pages on peace. There is no chapter without violence and wars! Even today, our reality shows unilateral and arbitrary usage of force.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish that this Forum will come up with an appeal different from the refrain that “Carthage must be destroyed”! I wish that we all together change it into “Carthage must be saved”. No Carthage should be ever reduced to ruins, no foundations of any culture should be shattered and no nation should ever ravage the soil of other civilizations or nations so that nothing can ever grow in it! I wish for our appeal to become a new refrain that will echo throughout the world and become a call for dialogue!

To avoid for this vital demand for dialogue among civilizations to remain just another piece of paper, and to turn it from verbal resolution into a moral revolution, I would suggest to organize together with you Mr. Director General of UNESCO, my dear friend Matsuura, a Conference of Ministers of Education and Science of all UNESCO member states this time next year. The basic objective of this Conference would be to set the criteria for a universal education network that would provide a continued development and promotion of dialogue among the civilizations in the world! The imperative for true equality among the cultures and the mutual respect of all traditions and people will be possible only when the matrix of values and the spiritual and ethical foundation we strive for, will become basis to education systems in different societies in the world.

And finally, dear guests, distinguished Director General of UNESCO, can we from this ancient city of Ohrid, the city of UNESCO, from this gathering that we are co-chairing together, you as an exceptionally important Japanese diplomat, at the head of UNESCO, who comes from the country of the rising sun, and I as President of the Republic of Macedonia, a country where the sun is both a spiritual and state symbol, send a universal appeal to silence the weapon and let hope prevail in everyone’s heart. After all, we are all guests on this Earth!

Thank you on your attention and allow me to open the Regional Forum “Dialogue among Civilizations” in Ohrid.