SDSM leader Venko Filipche said the political ties between Viktor Orban, Aleksandar Vucic and Hristijan Mickoski were established long ago, when the latter was still in opposition. According to him, Orban and Vucic’s media and financial support was decisive in bringing Mickoski to power.
Speaking to “Fokus”, Filipche addressed the position his party has reiterated recently following electoral developments in Serbia: after Orban and Vucic leave office, according to SDSM, the Macedonian prime minister will be next in line.
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“This relationship was not established now, but dates back to the period when Mickoski was in opposition. He came to power thanks to the assistance of Orban and Vucic, both through the media and financially. We have not spoken about this only now; over the past two years, we have issued warnings continuously. What we warned about has been proven,” Filipche said.
He highlighted several issues about which, according to him, SDSM had previously issued warnings. In this context, he also mentioned the large loan secured through Hungary, which he claims is in fact financed with Chinese money.
“We were the first to raise concerns about the nature of this large loan obtained through Hungary, which in fact consists of Chinese money. The new Hungarian prime minister has now launched an investigation to determine who received the large commissions and how they were distributed under this agreement. It is clear that the uncovering of this issue has only just begun,” he said.
Filipche also criticized the way the government has set its infrastructure priorities, saying that the railway along Corridor 10 was favored over Corridor 8. He claimed that Mickoski’s government had effectively blocked the implementation of Corridor 8, despite the project being considered a priority for Europe and NATO, while North Macedonia lost a €40 million European grant.
Speaking about influence over the media, the SDSM leader claimed that around 40 percent of the country’s online media outlets, as well as one television station, are controlled by people close to the former Hungarian prime minister. Regarding Serbia, he raised concerns about the entry into the domestic market of Serbian media outlets that, according to him, were not registered but nevertheless obtained licenses to operate in North Macedonia.
“What stronger proof could there be than the fact that unregistered Serbian media outlets were allowed to enter the country and were granted operating licenses? This is an extremely serious violation, which the authorities are compelled to commit because of the major concessions they have made to these two individuals,” Filipche claimed.
During the interview, he also spoke about the reasons that, in his view, contributed to SDSM’s poor electoral result, after seven years in power and entering government amid high expectations from citizens.
Filipche said the party had analyzed the results and concluded that citizens’ demands had been met only partially. He attributed primary responsibility for the loss to the leaders of the “12.05” Platform, whom he considered chiefly responsible for the wrong policies and decisions taken during the previous period.
“We won the elections in 2020, while in 2021 we lost by a minimal margin. Later, a small group of people emerged within the party, effectively took control, and today remains isolated in a so-called platform. This group allowed catastrophic policies and decisions to be adopted.
This is the group responsible for the changes to the Criminal Code, the French proposal, the consequences of which we are experiencing today, as well as the increase in officials’ salaries. Such a thing should not have happened in 2023 and 2024,” Filipche stressed.
In conclusion, the SDSM leader acknowledged that the commitments made to citizens had not been fulfilled, emphasizing that this should serve as a lesson for the new leadership of the social democratic party.
