The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia – SDSM has come out with harsh criticism of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, accusing him of using a well-known strategy to defocus the public in order to cover up the lack of reforms and the failure in the European integration process.
According to the party’s press release, the PM’s new campaign consists of two parts: the first is a deliberate tightening of relations with neighboring Bulgaria and a warning of new tensions, while the second part is unfounded attacks on the opposition that it is hindering the reform agenda.
SDSM notes that Mickoski has an absolute majority in the Parliament and can pass laws on their own, citing as an example the scrapping of the caretaker government, which was adopted without consensus.
“He doesn’t need SDSM for that, as he himself admitted. He only needs SDSM as an alibi for his own failure and for the fact that he does not meet the conditions for continuing negotiations and opening the European chapters,” reads the SDSM release.
The main opposition party goes a step further, claiming that the prime minister actually does not want membership in the European Union. According to SDSM, Mickoski is afraid of European rules, the European prosecution and strict control, because this would threaten the “system of crime, tenders and abuses”. SDSM underlines that the state is currently “brought to its knees, but the time for truth, justice and responsibility is nearing.”
