On the occasion of August 2-The Ilinden Uprising Day, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski sent Wednesday a note of congratulations to citizens of Macedonia and Macedonians living abroad.

The greatest Macedonian Holiday - Ilinden is a day that obligates, inspires and unites us. On this Holiday we bow to the glorious achievements of the revolution, courage, love for the Fatherland, the PM says.

This Holiday, he says, celebrates the tradition of glorious Ilinden generations, great number of revolutionaries, known and unknown heroes, their ideal, dedication, sacrifice and responsibility.

"We are remembering the hardship of our people, outbreak of national strive for freedom and own state, accumulated for years," Gruevski says, pointing the Ilinden 1903 as a crown of all previous uprisings, as well as the  first session of Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM), which (in 1944) verified the results of the War of National Liberation, turning the century-old dream for own country into reality.

"The aspiration for freedom in the past is now an aspiration for development, prosperity and better life of our citizens. The fight for own country then is now a fight for more jobs, investments, economic growth, the country's EU, NATO integration, better health care, education, agriculture. What we still nourish from the past is the struggle for honor, rights and national dignity. This fight never stops,"the PM says.