The Interior Ministry insists that it did not conduct surveillance and obstructed the campaign of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE.

VMRO officials today shared Viber messages exchanged between the top police officials in Prilep, and people from the office of Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski. From the messages it’s clear that the police followed VMRO mayoral candidate Borce Jovceski, deliberately stopped opposition activists to delay their campaign activities and in at least one case, sent thugs to attack an activist.

In its statement, the Interior Ministry dismissed the Viber messages as evidence but also informed the public that it will conduct an internal review. The Ministry also claims that it did not receive reports from citizens that their rights were violated on the day of the elections.