Macedonia's Mufti honoured by President Trump

This award has been shared with Rexhepi for the service he has done as chairman of the Islamic Religious Community, to society over 16 years of his position.

Rexhepi said his life has cost him the preservation of traditional Albanian Islam, which is often dominated by various religious groups.

Otto Von Feigenblatt, professor of International Relations University of Florida after the price split, said Albanians present models of interreligious cultivation and harmony. He said Rexhepi must be inspired for younger generations.

You have served as a model for the American spirit. Your engagement was focused on building trust and getting closer to people, without religious and ethnic affiliation, making a special contribution during the face of the greatest challenges of time. Our nation is pleased with your commitment to the work you're doing”, Otto Van Vegaenberg said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Macedonia's Islamic Religious Community, Sulejman Rexhepi, after receiving the award in question, said the Albanian people in Macedonia, and not only here but throughout the region, have testified to promoting the spirit of tolerance, peace and mutual respect.

“Today our obligations as a people, but also as members of religious and Islamic faith, our commitments must be synchronized, simultaneously in line with American efforts to preserve the country's stability and lead Macedonia as multiethnic states, to move forward towards Euro-Atlantic integration. This is the goal of the Albanian people -- this is the goal of Macedonia, of all citizens, but of my commitment as theologian and religious leader”, Rexhepi said.

Prior to the audience, Florida's Academy of Social Sciences for the Balkans, Star Paja, was addressed.

“Skopje is a small Jerusalem, is a country where Albanians can best express their human and spiritual values, a place where they have much to share and contribute to happy co-existence with all, with the Macedonian people and with other peoples”, Professor Paja said.

Mufti Rexhepi has consistently stressed that the policies of the past government were the generator of interreligious and interethnic conflicts, under which the state does not treat the two communities equally in terms of financial aid to religious objects, creates a pronounced divide.