Denne uken åpnet det makedonske forsvaret en utstilling om Nobels fredspris på militærmuseet i Skopje. Hensikten med denne utstillingen å markere fred som en universell verdi og en forutsetning for en bedre framtid. Utstillingen er viet de forpliktelser Makedonia har for å sikre fred og stabilitet rundt om i verden.
Utstillingen presenterer alle fredsprisvinnerne, og har en utvidet avdeling om Moder Teresa. Hun ble født i Skopje og er den eneste fredsprisvinneren fra Balkan – en region kjent for sin turbulente historie med konflikter og krig.
For første gang ble det autentiske fredsprisdiplomet Moder Teresa fikk utdelt av Nobelkomiteen i 1979 vist fram, og initiativtaker til utstillingen, forsvarsminister Fatmir Besimi, takket Den norske nobelkomiteen for uvurderlig bistand i forberedelsene av utstillingen
Utstillingen er ment å være en inspirasjon for alle, spesielt for den makedonske hæren som direkte bidrar til å bygge og bevare global fred og sikkerhet, noe også ambassadør Paulsen tok opp i sin åpningstale. Talen kan leses i sin helhet nedenfor:
Minister Besimi,
Representatives of the Military Museum,
Dear friends in the Macedonian army and the Ministry of defence
It is an honour to be present here today and participate in the opening of the Nobel exhibition and also commemorate the Nobel Peace Prize award to Mother Theresa in 1979. She was a true hero, not only for those millions of Indians she cared for through the years, but for people all over the world. She is famous for her programmes in India, but Mother Theresa was active also in other countries, including in Lebanon where she once facilitated a ceasefire in order to save a large number of civilian lives.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most important awards in the world. It keeps the focus on conflicts, injustice and human rights violations. But even more importantly, it is a positive award to those that often spend their entire lives, like Mother Theresa, to resist conflicts, to resist injustice, to resist violations of human rights. The Prize has in many cases had a direct impact on the situation in conflict areas and contributed to resolutions. It has also contributed to a continuous international alert with regard to arms control, both in the field of nuclear weapons and weapons with a particular negative humanitarian effect.
On this occasion I would like to hail Minister Besimi and all those who have made today’s event possible. This is an important exhibition for which you should be very proud. I congratulate you on your efforts.
Arrangementet fikk stor omtale i nasjonale medier.