On August 2, 1903, St. Elijah’s Day, the great Macedonian Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman Empire started in the city of Krushevo. This symbol of the revolutionary struggle of the Macedonian people and their aspiration for a free, independent and sovereign state, coupled with the first session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia, ASNOM, on August…
The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) is appalled by reports that the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Irinej has rejected the request by Macedonia’s government to commemorate the second Ilinden in our nation’s history at the Prohor Pchinski Monastery*, currently located in Southwest Serbia. Despite the belief that church and state are separate in Serbia, UMD strongly believes that the SOC’s rejection,…
The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) joins millions of Macedonians and friends of Macedonia globally in commemorating the 111th Anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising declaring the first-ever, albeit short-lived, dream of a free, independent, and sovereign Macedonia, in the form of the Krusevo Republic, and 70 years of ASNOM, when a permanent Macedonian state became a reality. The Ilinden Uprising and…
Release No. 06-08/02 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Ilinden Uprising on the Day of the Prophet St. Elijah (August 2nd) signifies the start of the modern Macedonian Republic as a stronghold of the first multi-ethnic, Balkan state. Just like modern Macedonia, the first Macedonian Republic bespoke the freedom cry into one that encompassed all ethnicities as one cohesive voice under the…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United Macedonian Diaspora views the recent suggestion by Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski to con-celebrate St. Elias’s Day (Ilinden) holiday with the Republic of Bulgaria with profound indignation. Ilinden is a Macedonian national holiday; and according to Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski, “[The Ilinden uprising] is one of the pillars of our existence, national identity, and foundation of…