Until 2004, the Republic of Serbia did not allow the celebration and honoring of August 2 in the Prohor Pčinski Monastery, where the foundations of the modern Macedonian state were laid in 1944 with the holding of ASNOM. Administratively, under the influence of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, the monastery was taken away from the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1947 and assigned to Serbia, in a meaningful move to historically prove in the future that ASNOM was held on Serbian territory, according to the TMRO statement.
"And while Serbia prevented celebrations until 2004 when Macedonia built Pelince, which is a few hundred meters from the Prohor Pcinski monastery, to commemorate this event, the Macedonian authorities continue to allow Serbians to commemorate events such as the Battle of Kajmakchala, Zebrnjak, and the Battle of Bregalnil, where the Serbian army was the occupying force in Macedonia."
"TMRO believes that the Macedonian government must show reciprocity and not allow such anti-Macedonian celebrations organized by a foreign state in the future, but we also express concern about the presence of official Serbian representatives in Pelince, for whom the alternative Pelince project was created," said Vancho Shehtanski, president of TMRO.
