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Balkan trip day 15: The Macedonian fortress

In the late morning we were picked up by our friends from the Boris Trajkovski International Foundation. We were brought to the center where we would discuss a bit about the developments and the program during a brunch. When we walked through the center, I was surprised by all the new construction works since I have been here for the last time during the summer.According to one of our friends, they are constructing a kind of triumph arc, an enormous fountain where a big statue of Alexander the Great would be placed. Also a big museum is constructed in the form of a church on the remains of an ancient church found on that place. The construction of the museum caused some tensions because it is taken place within the walls of the old fortress. A group of activists came in the night to destroy the metal framework. Now the fortress is guarded by police to keep the protesters away.

After the brunch we had a great meeting with the local and regional representative of the Bible Society. We discussed about the situation in Macedonia and ways for collaboration. It is interesting to hear his views and also it was encouraging to hear the activities he is doing. After this I should meet a member of the Macedonian parliament. However, he did not reach me and I could not reach him so I started to work in the restaurant where we had our brunch. That was good, because I had a lot to do. When I was working, I received a message from him if I could meet him at the parliament, so I went to the parliament where I had a great discussion with him. We updated each other about the latest developments of the ECPM and Macedonia and ways for a possible collaboration in the future.

After this we had a great evening with the leadership of the Boris Trajkovski Foundation. We were honored that Mrs. Vilma Trajkovska joined us. We had all a good time and discussed about the latest developments of the Foundation, the activities they are undertaking and how we could be involved. The Foundation is organizing now the Prayer Dinner and the Youth Leadership forum that will take place next week. This is a great event where they will discuss about "identity" based on the principles of Jesus. A very actual topic indeed especially for Macedonia. While the good traditional Macedonian music reached high volumes, we could discuss also about the establishments of dialogue groups in the Balkans. After the dinner we drank something with Victor and Marija, our friends from the Foundation, and said 'cheers' for the good, nice and effective evening.

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