site.btaSkopje Delegation's Visit to Washington Contrastingly Described at Home as "Success" and "Failure"

The presence of North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski at Monday's inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States was contrastingly described at home as a "success" and a "failure."

According to the news website Kurir.mk, Mickoski was the only Balkan leader who attended the inauguration. He watched the opening part seated in a VIP box alongside Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley and North Macedonia's Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski. During his visit to the US, Mickoski held many meetings with important representatives of American society and popularized his country like no other politician had done before, the website said.

Nezavisen.mk saw it differently. It said that, although Mickoski's VMRO-DPMNE party described his stay in the US as an "extraordinary success," all that TV viewers saw was the Skopje delegation taking photos on the street and turning up at sideline ball parties. The only verifiable fact that came close to "attending" the inauguration was the Prime Minister's presence at the presidential parade at Capital One Arena. The government did not even ask itself why Mickoski was the only Balkan leader at the events. Nezavisen.mk further commented that people who have dignity, respect their country and are familiar with foreign policy, would never go to such a grand national event in a foreign country unless they are invited personally by the president. It adds that the Skopje delegation looked as if they were on a training visit and communicated mainly with lobbyists.

The website noted that besides "the only Balkan leader," there was also a Bulgarian leader in Washington: Kiril Petkov, who heads the Continue the Change party. Petkov went there practically on the same kind of invitation as Mickoski, with the same (or even better) itinerary – and Petkov is not even in power in Bulgaria anymore, the report said.

Quite a few news outlets in North Macedonia conveyed without comment the press releases of the government press service, one of which said: "The Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski attended some of the inaugural events for the new President of the United States, held in Washington. He also met with the Chair of the Republican Party, Michael Whatley, with whom he watched the statement of US President Donald Trump. The stay in Washington was used as an occasion for many meetings to lobby for the Macedonian interests."