Our Common Values

To commemorate five years of the tragic accident of President Boris Trajkovski, the International Boris Trajkovski Foundation organized the forth-annual International Leadership Forum. The International Leadership Forum was held during the span of five days – from Wednesday, 25th of February, to Saturday, 28th of February. This year’s Forum, as well as the preceding ones, consisted of two parts: The International Leadership Forum (25th—26th February) and The International Youth Leadership Forum (27th—28th February). This year, however, unlike the previous ones, was more special. It was special because it marked half a decade from the death of the President. Because of that, the Forum was five days long, for five conveys a symbolical meaning, one day for each year.

The International Leadership Forum consisted of two major events – the premiere of the documentary “The President”, and The Fellowship Prayer Dinner. During the premiere of the documentary, which was held at the Macedonian Theater and Ballet, there were many distinguished guests, many politicians, many diplomats, many scholars, and the President’s friends. Furthermore, before the showing of the documentary the audience was entertained by the beautiful sound of the specially assembled chorus and by the extensive speech presented by a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Gjorgi Stardelov. The Fellowship Prayer Dinner served as a tool to bring back the memory of the life and deeds of President Trajkovski and to celebrate them. This was done among 200 guests, mainly President Trajkovski’s acquaintances.

While The International Leadership Forum was a time of remembering and commemorating, The International Youth Leadership Forum was a time of debating and shaping the leaders of tomorrow. This year’s topic was “Our common values”. During the two sessions, all the participants heard inspiring speeches and debated on two distinctive topics. During the first session held at the University of St. Cyril and Methodius, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Financial Crisis. The participants were honored to hear three speakers from the field of economy: Professor Abdulmenat Bexheti, Mr. Gligor Bishev, and Professor Mihail Petkovski. On the second session held in NOVA International Schools, the (sub) topic was Leadership in challenging times—Establishing long lasting peace. Another three speakers, established leaders such as Ambassador Philip Reeker, Ambassador Simone Philippini, and Mr. Ivica Bocevski welcomed us at NOVA.

The task of the participants or the young leaders of tomorrow was to contemplate on and discuss the presented issues in their assigned groups (A, B and C) and then come up with a possible solution. Later the conclusion was to be presented in front of the rest of the groups. Clearly, the purpose of the discussion was not for the participant to come up with a final solution for world’s problems, but to start up a spark, an idea that has the possibility to progress and grow, and one day might be THE solution.