Nevertheless, World War II veterans and their supporters protested against the forced neglect of the Allied Forces’ achievements and the continuous harassment of the veterans’ organization by the current government at all levels.

Media expert Roberto Belicanec shared with Filip Stojanovki of GlobalVoices that government spokesmen insist on how the state has invested in the creation of cultural heritage with the building of monuments such as the one to Metodija Andonov Čento. Belicanes argues that the idea of creating cultural heritage reveals the kind of ideological operation the state is investing in: the reshaping of history and erasing of all that does not fit within its world view. The monument to Čento is an example: he was murdered and “now every opportunity is used for his symbolical killings,” says Belicanec. “The day of the protest, the television showed images of Čento  because he is selected by the ruling party to demonstrate some connection to the national liberation war  as he was not a communist, but participated in the communist-led movement,” he commented.

More has happened. In December 2012, the veterans’ organization was thrown out of their premises through a controversial court order. Further on, the city government tried to stop the February 16th protest by denying permission to use the public square. The protesters decided to march anyway to continue the tradition of the original February march.

On the day of the protest,  instead of covering the protest, the major pro-government media, such as SITEL TV, propagated a government announcement declaring their respect for the heritage of the World War II.

According to the latest U.S. State Department report on Human Rights Practices,  the most important human rights problem in FYROM is the government’s failure to fully respect the rule of law, which is reflected in its interference in the media, selective prosecution of political opponents of the country’s leaders, and significant levels of government corruption.

The goal of the OSCE-supported regional conference that started on Monday in Ohrid, FYROM, is the exchange of best practices among anti-corruption agencies from South Eastern and Eastern Europe, and the discussion on the introduction of systems of integrity in public institutions.

During the event, representatives of national public institutions and regional anti-corruption agencies from Slovenia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia will share their countries’ experiences on the application of integrity models and on their policies to prevent corruption.

The project is part of a three-year plan of the OSCE Mission to Skopje to support the implementation of the State Programme for Prevention and Repression of Corruption 2011-2015, in co-operation with State Commission for Prevention of Corruption and Transparency International Macedonia. The State Commission is expected to introduce a system to promote integrity in the national institutions through legislative amendments in 2013.

Ambassador Natalya Drozd, the Deputy Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje, stated that “According to the state programme, in the context of implementing good governance principles public institutions should introduce measures to promote integrity and prevent corruption.” Therefore, “the OSCE Mission to Skopje organized this conference to help identify the most suitable model for the host country, learning from the experiences of others who have already implemented similar initiatives in the region.”

Ljubinka Koraboska, the President of the State Commission said: “This regional conference will give us an opportunity to learn from renowned experts from other countries, and compare their experiences and opinions. This will help our Commission to effectively implement best practices in co-operation with local institutions and decide on the main elements of the integrity-promotion concept in our country.”