This is now a Fourth Wave of the coronavirus epidemic and the Zaev Government caused it by keeping the border open during the summer and tolerating mass parties and family events, says doctor Igor Nikolov, who heads the VMRO-DPMNE Healthcare Committee.

Until a little while ago we had no measures what so ever. Now suddenly we have a raft of restrictions. Our Committee made proposals at the beginning of July, when we should have established controls on the border. We should not have allowed those crazy parties in enclosed venues to take place. They were formally banned, but we all saw that they were going on and there was no response from the authorities. This lasted for two and a half months, when all bans were just on paper, were not implemented, Nikolov said in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

The important and lucrative summer season when Albanian emigrants come to Macedonia, to their native towns and villages, was allowed to take place this year, with no border restrictions, and the majority Albanian Polog Valley region is now a hotbed of the epidemic.

In the interview, RFE tried to portray VMRO as a party that supports the few, small anti-vaxx protests, a charge which Nikolov strongly denied. The party, Nikolov said, supports vaccination, but will continue to criticize ill prepared measures.