The news that the Macedonian president during his official visit traveled through Sweden by train, caused media publicity. Such a thing, quite understandably, in Macedonia is treated as one of the news of the day, given that the use of public transport services is far from a norm in the behavior of politicians, at least the highly positioned.

The Swedish Embassy in Skopje welcomed the election of President Pendarovski, who opted to use the Swedish Railways because "it is the preferred mode of transport throughout Sweden for people of all ages and walks of life." And one of the reasons for the use of railways is the concern for the environment, because trains contribute less to carbon emissions than air travel.

In Sweden, it has long been unheard of for example for members of parliament or party leaders to travel around the country by train during election campaigns. In the broadest sense, however, this is not a constant in the behavior of the Swedish "elected representatives", as the media occasionally reports on some cases of abuse of allowances by politicians, for example, travel expenses and separate living, but they are generally perceived as something that is the exception to the rule. The carefully constructed image of the Swedish politician contains very little "detachment" from the daily life of ordinary citizens and voters.

Pendarovski belongs to the generation that probably remembers the television footage of the early 80s, which showed former Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Palme arriving on a bicycle in front of the Swedish government headquarters or sitting with his family in his backyard. , in a newly built neighborhood with typical houses for the middle class. There are "more extreme" examples, such as the case of former Gothenburg mayor Aneli Hulten, who said at a party rally that she would try to reach the Social Democratic Party congress in Stockholm by bicycle. Distance of about 500 km.

There is no doubt that Stevo Pendarovski on his several-day tour of Sweden had a good opportunity to enjoy the quality of transport services offered by the Swedish Railways, whose trains - should not be idealized at all - can be late, but very often arrive on time, so even a minute ahead of time. It can be assumed that the Macedonian president also enjoyed the views from the train, filled with landscapes of protected forests and lakes, clean and tidy cities and smaller settlements, where you have to really bother to notice a sloppy and ruined building, stripped and a peeled façade, scattered rubbish, rusty ironwork, or cut and leveled cheese cans, used to fill holes in a fence along a railroad track. A modern train, of course, can not move, in fact it can not even exist as a fast and efficient means of transport in such a devastated setting.

In Scandinavia a saying is often used to regulate behavior, especially from a moral point of view. "Live as you propagate." It can not be expected that Swedish MPs will travel in "Mercedes", while the society is making great efforts to build a branched railway network, as one of the most important infrastructure projects to modernize society.

Whether the Macedonian president thinks in a similar way in the performance of his important social function remains to be seen during his term. Positive examples, in any case, always catch the eye and give a positive impetus among those who want to see and be convinced that there are positive steps that contribute to building the common good. Without it, a society can hardly function on any line of progress.

The Macedonian President dedicated part of his busy schedule to his official visit to Sweden for meetings and talks with the Macedonian diaspora. And that can certainly be assessed as another nice gesture on his part. The diaspora needs rapprochement with the homeland, it seems like never before. "Nothing else will help, except accelerated economic development," Pendarovski said at a meeting with representatives of the Macedonian Union in Sweden, answering a question on how to prevent mass emigration from Macedonia, especially to young people.

We need to learn how to build a democratic society, but not with constant confrontations and divisions, but by building the necessary inter-party consensus on the most important development issues and projects, Pendarovski said, and "we need to learn the most from the EU." Sweden is an example of a highly developed country that has a lot to learn from, and which, the Macedonian President emphasized, continuously financially assists Macedonia, through its development agency. This is support for projects that, of course, are not enough to modernize and build a modern railway network, for example, but could, if there is a clear political will to do so, be used to raise the general level of awareness in the direction of gradual modernization of society and abandonment of economic backwardness.

Finally, whether we travel by train or by Mercedes, will not be crucial in terms of the long-awaited step and progress that Macedonian citizens want and expect in the decades-long period of difficult transition, which is still ongoing. But the "detachment" of politicians from the citizens can certainly be at least partially overcome, if it is realized that awareness of the development effects of a successful policy can be built, above all, by building the image - as much as it sounds like a relapse from the previous abandoned system - a politician with a "normal, human face". And when it comes to such ambition, negotiations and EU membership are not crucial, or even necessary. It is a homework that needs to be learned and mastered beforehand.