Boris Trajkovski Quotations

I am ready to accept all accusations, allegations, anger - but I have to succeed.

Our citizens will lose their confidence or trust in the values and principles of the international community, especially if our personal identity is denied.

The alternative to peace is war, which will expose everyone to mass casualties, misery and a loss of perspective for many years to come.

I understand the protests, but not the shooting and the attempts to bring down the state. We cannot allow hatred to control our lives. We must remain unified to defeat this evil.

I intend to be the president of all citizens of Macedonia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background, regardless of their political standing. I shall not allow ethnic hatred and intolerance to undermine Macedonia's stability.

While there continues to be differences, the important point is that all citizens and elected officials use democratic and legal avenues for solving those differences.

Remember all those references to Macedonia as the oasis of peace in the Balkans. You only really appreciate it when you have lost it.

The Republic of Macedonia is being built on democratic ideals and values, not on ethnic groups. Those ideals and values include economic opportunities, language and educational opportunities, religious rights, and political processes.

We think that Kosovo will continue to serve as a centre of violence and regional instability in future.

I am considering two things on a daily basis: what is right to do and what is wrong to do in my role as President of my people. According to my conscience, I am trying to abide by the right. My vision is peace. My vision is prosperity.

My faith is a very important part of my life. I do not feel that I have become president of this country by accident, but that I have been chosen because nobody can accuse me of favouring the Albanian Muslims or the Orthodox.

If we really want to take away all weapons, it is necessary to seal all the channels of their delivery to the region,

Unfortunately the talks are totally blocked, mostly because of the radical change of the positions of PDP and DPA (two main ethnic Albanian parties).

We are ready now to talk to them and we are ready to resolve any outstanding problems, ... But we have to keep this fabric of the relations and not only to have ad-hoc solutions ... We'd like to have a constant dialogue.

We are living in truly historic times, ... We are giving a positive sign and strong commitment that we are ready to take a step forward in our cooperation.

We don't need NATO to stay on as guarantor for peace,

The rage on the streets is not the answer,

You gave me a mandate for peace and tranquility, not war,

aimed at achieving a political settlement as soon as possible.

This agreement is not perfect, but no agreement is. It's the best we have at the moment and it has some very positive aspects, ... The alternative is war.

Although there are differences, the continuation of these talks should make progress toward the stabilization of inter-ethnic relations in the country,

the Albanians have declared war against the Macedonian people.

If NATO troops stayed on, this would only give us a sense of false security ... and create another Bosnia or Kosovo in the Balkans.

I really think that a ceasefire is a realistic possibility,

If everybody has goodwill that is the priority and that is what I am going to tell the president.