Slovenian magazine “V Fokusu” published an extremely critical review of the way Macedonia is dealing with the coronavirus. In the review, the technical government of the SDSM party is assessed as extremely incapable of dealing with the epidemic, or protecting the economy from the impact of the crisis.

The former SDSM government, now the tinterim government of SDSM, is sinking in the mud of its own incompetence in front of the eyes of the citizens. At a time when neighboring countries are trying to provide assistance to their economies, which are facing a crisis, the interim government of SDSM has completely neglected and left small and medium-sized enterprises that are collapsing in the lurch. While other countries in the region are preparing huge stimulus packages to keep the economy afloat, SDSM cares only about its oligarchy and its interests. They reject the opposition’s proposals to help certain segments of the economy, such as transport, which the survival of the population literally depends on. The worse the situation in the state, the more proud they become of their intransigence, writes “V Fokusu”, adding that 140,000 citizens are left without jobs, to which the ruling SDSM party responds with distributing “humanitarian aid” only to its party members.

The magazine writes that due to the high level of corruption in healthcare, Macedonia was left with only 200 coronavirus tests in the first two weeks of the epidemic, and public health had to rely on a private hospital for help.

People died while waiting to be taken to the main infectious disease clinic, and the number of new patients rose to three-digit per day. Two large cities with a total population of 200,000, Prilep and Kumanovo, have exponential growth in the number of patients, but instead of declaring a crisis situation, the authorities debated who is in charge of the issue. In cases where other non-government actors, such as opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, provided aid from Slovenia or Hungary, the authorities said it was disrupting official aid channels and almost blamed foreign interference in the country’s sovereignty, writes “V Fokusu”, adding that the citizens who were repatriated were charged 300 euros each for transport.

Amid this crisis, the magazine also published photos of former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s bizarre motorcycle ride with his friends after leaving quarantine under which he was placed following a contact with a journalist who was infected with the virus, with Zaev being described as the “main star” of this absurd situation in Macedonia.

Zaev went “to blow off some steam” with his gang of bikers and state security on a tour across eastern Macedonia, thus mocking the citizens who are in isolation and who respect the orders that came into force. The whole country is under 85-hour lockdown for Easter, starting from Friday 4pm to Tuesday 5am, and the total number of patients infected with Covid-19 stands at 1,170. Unfortunately, there is a potential danger for new, big hotspots, and it is impossible to answer the question of when the epidemic can be expected to slow down, considering the above mentioned situation in the country and the political climate, writes “V Fokusu”.