President Drnovšek expresses his condolences on the death of Macedonian President Trajkovski
Ljubljana, 02/26/2004 | press release
Following the news of the death of the President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, today conveyed his condolences to the Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament. In his letter of condolences, he stated:
"I have been much grieved to learn the sad news of the death in a plane crash of the Macedonian President, Mr Boris Trajkovski, and his closest associates, as well as members of the crew.
My sadness over this severe loss is so much the deeper as I have been a sincere friend of the late President Trajkovski. Our joint efforts, always directed towards the strengthening of cooperation between our two countries and towards the search for a path that could make Macedonia an equal member of the European Union in the shortest possible time, have left a deep impression on me. I used to meet and exchange views with Mr Trajkovski on a regular basis. Together, we planned his official visit in the near future to Slovenia. Sadly, this tragic event has thwarted these plans.
Macedonia, and the entire international community, has suffered a great loss with the death of President Boris Trajkovski, a great Macedonian politician, democrat, a great advocate for peace, progress, and the coexistence of nations. Boris Trajkovski led Macedonia through difficult critical moments and directed it towards the historical objective of integration into European and Euro Atlantic structures. He did all in his power to maintain dialogue between nations and civilisations. Yet, through it all, he had maintained trust in people, in democracy and peace. This is how he will remain in the memory of all who have ever had an opportunity to meet him and to work with him.
On behalf of myself and all the citizens of Slovenia, I would like to convey to the family of President Boris Trajkovski, to the families of the other victims of this tragic accident, to the citizens of Macedonia, and to the highest state authorities in that country, my heartfelt condolences."