Macedonia will add 1.5 billion EUR in new debt only this year, and it will reach dizziying 66 percent of GDP at 8.5 billion EUR, said the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party in a press release. The statement is to respond to Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi, who was boasting about paying off the final tranche of a 2014 bond issue worth 500 million EUR.

Minister Besimi brags that he paid off old debt, which was maturing anyway, and which was incurred by a Government where his DUI party was also participating. At the same time, we are on course to surpass the EU debt criteria by whole 6 points, VMRO-DPMNE said.