site.btaPolitical Rhetoric Takes Over in North Macedonia as Parliamentary, Presidential Elections Approach

Speaking in Shtip on Saturday, North Macedonia's opposition VMRO-DPMNE party leader Hristijan Mickoski vowed that there will be „no constitutional amendments in his country under Bulgarian dictate” either now or in the future. According to Mickoski, Prime Minister and Social Democratic Union President Dimitar Kovačevski's long insistence on securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia for amendments in the country's constitution is political actionism.

The presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in the Republic of North Macedonia in 2024 have now become major topics of discussion in the country, not only because of Kovačevski and Mickoski’s different positions on whether the elections should be held at the same time, but also because of the political rhetoric of the two politicians.

Mickoski expects VMRO-DPMNE to achieve its highest ever result in the upcoming elections, while Kovačevski is hoping for a pro-European victory.

SDSM’s victory in next year's presidential elections will be the first defeat of the anti-European concept, Kovačevski stressed. “The victory of SDSM and the European front in the parliamentary elections and the formation of the new pro-European government by SDSM will secure a second defeat for the anti-European politicians. Because the citizens want a European future, higher wages, a better standard of living, they want young people to build their future in a European country, at home, in their homeland,“ he added.

Last week, Mickoski insisted on a meeting with Kovačevski to set the dates for the elections, but Kovacevski refused. Mickoski said that he accepts that the talks be held within working groups in Parliament and called on Kovačevski to name the participants in the working groups. "From what we have seen so far, Kovačevski is a proven coward, who runs away from elections, runs away from debates, runs away from journalists’ questions, he is constantly running away from something. If he is scared, let him name people who are ready to sit down with the people of VMRO-DPMNE and talk, because in a few months we have two key processes for the future of Macedonia - the presidential and parliamentary elections," Mickoski argued.