Ministers, mayors, colleagues, friends. Delighted to be the first panellist on this important day: Congratulations to 25 years of Ohrid and 35 years of independence.  
I am currently the Deputy Head of the OSCE Presence in Tirana. I served in Skopje 2001-2004 with the EU Special Representative, very involved in the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. I was back in 2023 as Advisor to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. I am happy to be back now with old and new friends.

Since I left North Macedonia, I was deployed in Kosovo, BiH, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan. I was involved in many a peace agreement and processes. And I can assure you one thing with all sincerity: the Ohrid Agreement is  is the best agreement I ever knew.  
Precisely because it is not merely a peace agreement, but a foundational document creating the basis for a civic state with individual and collective rights - and obligations - for all. It didn’t just stop any fighting; it protects the political, cultural and linguistic rights of all communities. Through equitable representation in the common institutions it promotes inclusion rather than separation. And it strengthens democracy, including through the Badinter formula and decentralisation.
?And not by coincident, but by design: the architects of this agreement, above all on domestic side, whether from VMRO, SDSM, DPA, PDP or later DUI, very consciously and intentionally chose this most European approach; facilitated and guaranteed by the EU and US at the time. You were blessed with wise leaders at a difficult time. You are hence rightly proud of it; and it’s right to commemorate its 25th anniversary this week with pride. So am I.

Alas, the Ohrid Agreement was always only a basis, not the end.  Any agreement is only as good as its maintenance.  
Think of buying a house: you search for it, looking into many details to meet your needs, location, how many rooms, you negotiate a price, you sign a contract, all of this takes long and difficult decisions; then you finally move in.  
Great, but not the end, rather a beginning. You ll have to furnish the house. Then pay bills, like water or electricity, if you want to live in that house. Pay taxes maybe. You ll need to fix the roof when it leaks.?
Same with political agreements: maintain or lose on your investment.?The Ohrid Agreement is the fundament your society stands on. Not just a part of your past, but of your future.

That brings me to the future:  Politics is an ungrateful profession.  There is no resting on old laurels.?It’s not enough to have done good deeds, or to have been wise in the past.  
We - all of us - must now look into what to offer your citizens, old and young, now, and over the next 25 years. Everyone must do that, big or small, every party, no matter what group you may represent. 
?And the challenges are many, for North Macedonia no less than any  country: What jobs will there exist in the future? What educations will it require? What threats & chances emanate from the cyber space? How to secure the ever growing energy needs? How to protect our environment through it? How to ensure our agriculture still produces enough food? Or clean water for that matter?

These are the issues that matter today. The basic issues were addressed in the basic agreement and remain inherent, the fundament.  But citizens - in North Macedonia as anywhere - now need answers and solutions to those new issues. That’s the job of politics in 2026: a vision and concrete steps on the way.

Your vision is a future in the EU. Hard work. And even that again wont be an end, but another beginning. Consider: There are currently six parties or coalitions in your parliament, right? In the European Parliament, you ll find over 200 national political parties from across 27 EU member states, and growing.?The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has 323 members from different political parties and 57 states who must find agreement. All of whom fight for and defend their national, group and individual economic, social, cultural, security etc interests. 
?Politics is the representation and balance of diverse and even contradictory interests. We are lucky enough to live in democracies, where there are a multitude of opinions and interests on any given subject. Balancing them is hard work, but the way we do things in Europe. Seeking and finding compromise is what’s asked from any generation throughout history.

Macedonia has an ancient history. The modern Republic of North Macedonia is 35 years old. The Ohrid Framework Agreement as one of its fundaments is 25 years old.?Once again congratulations to this double anniversary. And success in the continued, daily work to make it work.