VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski called on the international representatives to Macedonia to send a message to the ruling SDSM party to stop demonizing the striking public sector teachers. SDSM provoked the strike when it hiked the minimum wage, and with the inability of its Government to rein in inflation, and the teachers now want a corresponding wage hike for themselves too.

A week into the strike, a kindergarten in Skopje’s Gjorce Petrov district was vandalized with outrageous comments against the SONK union which is organizing the string. “SONK kill children” is among the messages on the walls of an institution used to care for children.

This is scandalous. I call on the international community, OSCE and others who follow processes here to respond. If they don’t, I will be disappointed with their inaction, Mickoski said, attributing the incident to SDSM supporters.