The Mayor of Kumanovo Maksim Dimitrievski, who is running a successful challenge to his former SDSM party to keep his office, doubled down on his criticism of his former ally Zoran Zaev. In a TV interview, Dimitrievski blasted Zaev for making numerous concessions with the Macedonian national identity.

We have no right to change our history. That is not accepted in Kumanovo and is not accepted in Macedonia. I will not allow that the history of our ancestors is trampled. We were, we are and we will remain Macedonians, Dimitrievski said.

He narrowly beat the SDSM candidate Oliver Ilievski in the first round and is hoping to win the support of the large contingent of VMRO-DPMNE voters whose candidate Toni Mihajlovski ended in third place. This race has the potential to deprive Zaev of what was supposed to be an easily winnable major city. Because of this, Dimitrievski was hounded by the police on Tuesday, for an alleged traffic violation. His opponent, Ilievski, is a crony of Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski.