Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Timcho Mucunski, attended the traditional gathering of Macedonians from the New York and New Jersey region on Monday.
“I attended the liturgy at the ‘St. Cyril and Methodius’ church in New Jersey, where I also met with our Macedonian community. I am grateful for the warm hospitality and the dedication with which Macedonians in the diaspora maintain their connection to the homeland. Our care and support for Macedonian communities outside Macedonia remain strong, because wherever our people are, a part of Macedonia is there too,” Prime Minister Mickoski said in a social media post.
The state delegation received a warm welcome at the ‘St. Cyril and Methodius’ church, where Father Goce Postolovski officiated the service.
“It is a great pleasure to have such a visit to our community, to see the Prime Minister with our people and have him sit with us. That is not something one sees or experiences every day,” said Toni Kocevski, president of the St. Cyril and Methodius church community.
When asked about his expectations regarding the home country, Kocevski stated that he expects “ongoing, day-to-day efforts in the cooperation between Macedonia and the diaspora, increased investment, and for people to want to return and have better living options in Macedonia.”
For Sinisha Spasovski, an expatriate living in New York, Prime Minister Mickoski’s visit signifies a commitment “not only to Macedonians within Macedonia but also to those living abroad.”
“This gesture of attention from the state gives us the feeling that we haven’t been left to fend for ourselves, that our country and its leaders care about us and want their visits abroad to focus not only on foreign nationals but also on our own people in those countries,” Spasovski said.