It’s a big lie that the Macedonians and Albanians hate each other, said VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski during his rally in Gostivar yesterday, where VMRO is supporting an ethnic Albanian candidate – doctor Arben Taravari – as Mayor.

Those who try to build walls between us do so because they expect to gain politically or financially out of it. It is time now to build a new, modern, shared patriotism of the 21st century, a patriotism that will unite us, Mickoski said.

A day after the rally, the ruling DUI – SDSM coalition launched a fake news attack, using an edited video, trying to falsely portray a VMRO candidate in an ethnically mixed part of Skopje as allegedly singing a song that is insulting to Albanians.