President Pendarovski hung the Special Prosecutor and the Prime Minister out to dry. Following our revelations about the extortion case, Serbia and the United States demand transparency. Pendarovski puts Zaev in the corner, writes Italian newspaper “La Verità” in Tuesday’s issue. We convey the full information of journalist Laris Gaiser.

The earthquake caused by La Verita’s published documents proving corruption in the Macedonian political and judicial system isolated Prime Minister Zoran Zaev both internally and externally. The United States, in addition to sending its own representative to consult with Macedonian President Pendarovski, strongly criticized the government in Skopje via Voice of America radio.

In their line, IRI’s Paul McCarthy underlined that there is a strong fear in the international community that the idea of justice in Macedonia is being trampled on by the revealed facts. In the afternoon, US Ambassador Kate Byrnes stressed that the scandal must be urgently cleared in accordance with international law.

Serbia

Even President Vucic feels the need to comment on the developments. At a press conference in Belgrade, Vucic seemed to want to give Zaev a well-intentioned warning – he insisted that the creation of a special prosecution could not, in any case, be the solution to the bad things in Macedonia, and that he was informed that what had been published so far by us is just the beginning of a long story. Forced by our revelations and encouraged by the Americans and the French, the President of Macedonia yesterday convened a press conference in which he admitted, as a citizen, that he was disappointed with Special Public Prosecutor Katica Janeva and the fact that the chief prosecutors (pointing finger at Janeva and the state prosecutor for organized crime Ruskoska) are on vacation at a time when the state is in deep crisis. At yesterday’s press conference, President Pendarovski distanced himself from his political tutor Zoran Zaev, took a high institutional profile and actually sought help in order not to be left alone, aware of the fact that he is at the top of a state with a highly corrupt judicial system.

By saying that not all judges are corrupt and that he ready to use all his legal powers so that conscientious judges can work independently, he only acknowledged the frustration felt by the majority of Macedonian citizens and “applied” to take over the role of savior of the homeland at a time when Zaev’s regime, abandoned by all, will definitely fall. In a scenario where Zaev seems doomed to a bad end due to the evidence presented by us and those still being analyzed, Pendarovski becomes the only guarantor of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic perspective.

The future

It is, in fact, the man for whom the foreign capitals seem to intend to bet on a soft and democratic transition, as clear as possible. However, he knows he has a difficult task ahead of him as it is Vilma Ruskoska who is leading the charges of organized crime, Zaev’s favorite prosecutor, to whom the incumbent prime minister wants to give the special prosecutor’s mandate in place of Janeva, or in all cases of corruption where he may have been involved as well.

As we had the opportunity to write about the ex-PM of the conservatives convicted of corruption, Nikola Gruevski, it is clear to the whole world that even if the Prime Minister was not involved in the corrupt system that we disclosed, he is objectively guilty of the bad things that happened to Macedonia because of his inability to lead the country and the non-eradication of the pervasive crime. Zaev’s international position is further endangered, in the general context of our publications, as even Sweden intervened in recent hours, one of the most democratic countries. A Swedish court rejected the request for Dejan Davidovski’s extradition, accused by Vilma Ruskoska for terrorism because he was involved in the storming of the Macedonian Parliament in 2017. After apprehension at Interpol’s request, Swedish judges have not only refused to continue with extradition of the Macedonian national given their conviction that he is a victim of political persecution and that in his home country he could not have a fair trial, but even advised the exile to seek immediate political asylum in their state. It is unlikely that the Macedonian political and judicial system could get a greater reproof from the liberal democracies. But unfortunately for President Stevo Pendarovski, it is precisely these people who are considered political agents of the West that lead the institutions he hopes to bring justice. The corrupt will never condemn themselves. And here he is in these hours trying to get as much international support as possible, tries to clarify the situation with as many foreign capitals as possible.

The attacks

During the press conference he (Pendarovski) felt that he should respond to the call of Antonio Milososki, an opposition representative who stated that he was shocked by the statements of Professor AnaChupeska, a member of a committee nominated by the President, who claims that she is certain that the “fascists” Salvini and Berlusconi are behind our revelations.