Gordana Siljanovska‑Davkova to UKIM students: Be critical and rebellious; let re‑elections depend on you
At the opening academic lecture for 2026–2027 at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, the president urged students to defend rights, think critically and shape who stays in power.
Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova used her opening address at the first academic lecture of the 2026–2027 year at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (UKIM) in Skopje to call on students to keep a critical mind and to insist that the re-election of professors and politicians ultimately depends on them.
Introduced on stage as the country’s first female president and a long‑time full professor at the Faculty of Law "Justinian I", Siljanovska‑Davkova said that every visit to the campus awakens youthful energy and reminded students that the university was the most beautiful chapter of her life.
Pointing across the square at the Faculty of Philosophy, she argued that philosophy provides principles and values, and gesturing toward the Faculty of Economics she said progress and development are necessary to move the country forward. She also congratulated the university rector, the minister of education and science and student leaders on the new academic year.
On science, AI and public responsibility
She recalled presenting the country’s highest state award a few days earlier to the internationally known chemist Svetlana Mojsov and relayed the scientist’s impression from a conference breakfast: that young chemistry students asked such technically sophisticated questions that Mojsov was surprised — and concluded that “this country with minds like these should influence the present and determine the future,” Siljanovska‑Davkova said.
Turning to the role of critical thinking, the president quoted William Faulkner’s advice to students about opposing injustice, falsehood and force. She warned about the risks of artificial intelligence, using the film Proteus as a parable, and urged that “to use artificial intelligence, we must have natural intelligence.”
Siljanovska‑Davkova said UKIM should lead change not merely because it is the oldest or once the best university, but because it has real achievements and ambitions. She also argued it is time the United Nations had a woman secretary‑general after eighty years of male leadership: “The United Nations were created as a peace project, and we face war. I see many girls here and I cannot help but say that for 80 years the United Nations have been led by men, led by the god (of war) Mars. It is time for a woman secretary‑general of the United Nations who will begin a new era with an olive branch and be guided by Venus, not by Mars,” she said.
She closed by urging students to be both critical and rebellious, to claim their rights and to build a system where the re‑election of professors and politicians depends on the students. “Do not forget that the more you know the more constructive you will be, the more tolerant you will be, the more understanding you will have for others, not only for yourself. It is worth studying; there is no greater investment than that,” she told them.
The opening event also included remarks from the university and announcements about improved conditions and new scholarship categories, while VMRO‑DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski addressed freshmen from Shtip with a message asking them to return and fight for the country.
Photo: Printskrin
