MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BURIED IN SKOPJE

SKOPJE, March 5 (Hina) - Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, who was killed in a plane crash last week, was buried with full state honours in Skopje on Friday in the presence of his family, top Macedonian government officials, representatives of religious communities, a large number of citizens, and some 60 delegations headed by 12 heads of state, including Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.#L# Expressing deep sympathy on behalf of the international community, European Commission President Romano Prodi said he would always remember Trajkovski's dedication to Europe and that the tributes to him meant a continuation of the struggle to achieve the goals in which Trajkovski had believed and to complete the project he had started. Prodi called on the international community to continue supporting Macedonia in its efforts to implement the necessary reforms so that it could join the European Union. He added that the EU was looking forward to receiving Macedonia's application for EU membership, which he said was Trajkovski's dream. Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski said that entire Macedonia was united in pain and dignified in sorrow for its president. He stressed that Macedonia would follow the path chartered by Trajkovski. A funeral oration was also delivered by the leader of Trajkovski's VMRO-DPMNE party, Nikola Gruevski. The funeral ended with Mass said by the head of the Evangelical Methodist Church for Central and Southern Europe, Heinrich Bolotar. His prayer was accompanied by the Macedonian National Theatre Choir, who sang psalms from the Bible. Trajkovski's gravestone is inscribed with a quote from the Gospel According to Matthew: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God". (Hina) vm sb