Miloshoski: Ilinden is not just a date — it is a historical scale
Speaking in Kruševo, Antonijo Miloshoski described Mechkin Kamen as the place where Ilinden fighters accepted the sacrifice for freedom and urged attention to demographic decline.
Vice‑President of the Assembly Antonijo Miloshoski addressed a gathering in Kruševo today, invoking the memory of the Mechkin Kamen stand during the Ilinden uprising and calling it a symbol of self‑sacrifice. He said the battle site shows how a small band of defenders confronted a stronger enemy out of love for their homeland.
"Ilinden is a measuring scale for every generation"
Commenting on the courage of the fighters, Miloshoski said, "Pitu Guli and the others knew that the forces were superior, they knew that they would not return to see their wives, children, parents." He stressed that they acted out of devotion to the country and to the families they defended.
He added that their motivation was to refuse to live without hope and without freedom. "They fought because they refused to live without hope and without freedom," Miloshoski said, and noted that both Pitu Guli and Nikola Karev shared the view that freedom is not given as a gift.
Miloshoski recalled that the defenders accepted the likelihood of death but remained faithful to the slogan "Death or freedom." He told those gathered that Mechkin Kamen remains the place where that resolve was made visible.
Turning to the present, Miloshoski warned that the state is not merely territory but a legacy to hand down to future generations, and he raised concerns about the country's poor demographic trends.
Photo: press material from the event
