"Let's not forget, so that it does not happen to us", exactly 20 years ago, on January 22, 2001, around 02 am, a police rocket launcher and bursts of automatic weapons were attacked at the police station in Tearce, Tetovo. Police officer Momir Stojanovski was killed and three other police officers were injured.

Today, a delegation of "Dignity" in front of the former building of the police station laid a bouquet of fresh flowers and a statement was made by one of the wounded police officers, Lika Jahi, who recalled what exactly happened on this day 20 years ago and talked about the horrors of the moment his colleague was killed and the other three, including him, were wounded, said the president of the political party "Dignity" Stojance Angelov in today's address.

- This year marks 30 years since the independence of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, also marks 20 years since the beginning of armed action in 2001, but also one year since joining the most powerful military-political alliance NATO. An alliance that, among other things, is a guarantee that what happened to us in 2001 will not happen again, said Angelov.

He added that the purpose of this press conference and reminder of these events is not to spread interethnic hatred, but to eradicate it completely. After 20 years, when the wounds are partially healed, Angelov says it is time for science to answer whether in 2001 we had a war, a military conflict, an armed conflict or an interethnic conflict. The question is whether some Albanians were disenfranchised who had to take up arms, who fought for what, who won.

- The Macedonian defenders who defended the homeland in 2001 went through a series of hardships and since then they have been facing a series of problems. This Government led by Zoran Zaev and SDSM has made a series of improvements, but due to the impossibility of systematic adoption of the law, work is being done on a single solution of the rights and problems that are preserved by the defenders who will ask for help from the Government. pointed out Stojance Angelov.

"Why a new law on veterans cannot be adopted is a question that is constantly repeated," Angelov said. One of the reasons is the past 20 years of the past conflict, as well as the lack of information of people born after 2001. On the other hand, our military enemy from 2001, today is part of the government, ie it has been almost constant for 20 years and for any laws for the defenders, we must get approval from them as well, adds Angelov.

The president of the party "Dignity" announced that the realization of the rights and problems of most of the defenders and the family members of the victims is underway. Under the current Veterans Law, passed in 2002, Veterans enjoy only two rights, to enroll in college, a right exercised by a small number of Veterans, and a right of employment advantage in state administrations, which was also exercised by a very small number. number of defenders.

Angelov stressed that he is committed to finding a solution for all defenders who were part of the conflicts and to date have not been compensated. He pointed out that as a political party, "Dignity" are representatives of the majority of defenders and regularly pay tribute to all those who fought for the country..

- This year we will launch an initiative to decorate three deceased generals, Police General Risto Galevski, Army General Pande Petrevski and General Josip Bosheski. We will also launch several initiatives to honor military and police units that have made significant contributions to the defense of the homeland, and we will also launch several initiatives for veterans who performed heroic deeds in 2001. We expect only one thing from the state, thank you and I believe that we are on a good path for that to be realized, said Angelov and added that as a party they want to realize several written and video stories, as well as documentaries from the 2001 war..

When asked how the records for the defenders will be made, Angelov said that unfortunately there are people who, although they were in the front lines, do not have a certificate due to a number of objective or subjective moments, and on the other hand the state still has lists and information where defenders were in 2001.

- We need a central register that will include all these people and normally this will help us to do some additional research on post-traumatic stress disorder in all veterans who have had such experiences, said Angelov.

He added that they have been working on this plan for a long time, and in these three years they have helped hundreds of defenders, but do not use them for public promotion because it is ungrateful for a person who participated in hostilities to be publicly highlighted when he was in trouble. Angelov announced that the defenders will be provided with any requested assistance.

At the moment, a procedure is being conducted for the election of a new national coordinator of veterans and all defenders will be able to address him directly, and he will be able to solve most of the problems for which there is a legal basis with the political assistance of the Government..

The attack on the Tearce police station in January 2001 also marked the informal start of armed action in the country. Despite the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement in August 2001, attacks continued on Macedonian police targets. The military conflict lasted until November of that year, and 72 people from the Macedonian security forces lost their lives..