A new sign that former Prime Minister and President Branko Crvenkovski is ending his political inactivity comes as a Facebook page was created to promote him. The page carries statements and speeches from before 2013, when he ended his political career, but it’s still not clear whether it is authorized by Crvenkovski or some fan of his.

The timing is curious, though. Crvenkovski broke his public silence in early 2021, when he called on his SDSM party to remove Zoran Zaev as leader, after Zaev announced his readiness to accept all Bulgarian demands. Zaev was thwarted for the time being by street protests organized by VMRO-DPMNE and the threat of a split in the party, announced by Crvenkovski and other party officials.

More recently, a group of his loyalists in Ohrid announced a separate run in the coming October elections, which could split the SDSM vote and help deliver control of the city to VMRO. Media outlets are also announcing that Crvenkovski is planning to create a new party, which Crvenkovski’s office neither confirmed nor denied.

Zaev for his part said that he does not expect that Crvenkovski will leave SDSM and form a new party.