"I am not afraid to say that the Macedonians are our closest people, we have no closer people. And I clearly want to say that we do not want anything from North Macedonia. We have no strings attached and expect nothing from you. We only want to build even closer and better relations. We are not asking you to change your constitution, that is your internal business. All we ask of you is to accept our outstretched hand. We don't have any problems with each other."

This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the solemn celebration of St. Sava in Skopje, reports BTA.

Vucic, the Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski, the resigned Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, the chairman of VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski, as well as MPs, diplomats and representatives of ethnic communities attended the official celebration of the official holiday of the Serbian community in North Macedonia on Saturday evening in Skopje .

“Both you and we are on the European path and we have high goals. I believe that we in Serbia will triple our GDP to 100 billion euros in just 15 years. We can do this with your help. At EXPO 2027 in Belgrade, I invite North Macedonia to have the largest stand”, announced the Serbian president.

We will ask you to preserve our closest relationship and never spoil it. And it is time together with our Serbs here in North Macedonia to shout "Long live Serbia", said Vucic.

Good neighborliness, based on mutual respect and equal cooperation, is the only alternative to retrograde processes and sharp rhetoric, which unfortunately is increasingly heard in our region. This traditional solemn celebration of St. Sava is another opportunity to symbolically confirm our good intentions and continue to build bridges of cooperation between the two friendly countries, changing the centuries-old image of our region from a troubled to a prosperous part of a united Europe, said Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski.