The case Phoenix is a political theatre, shadowing of our identity features, and a public defocus from the authorities’ crimes, Hristijan Mickoski, VMRO-DPMNE leader, said during the Monday’s visit to a municipality in Skopje.

He also called upon the Public Prosecutor to open an investigation on the monument in the village of Slupchane – who issued the permission, who financed it, adding that that there are plethora of such cases of illegal construction in Zayas, Kolari (dominated by ethnic Albanian population) and many other cities and towns around Macedonia.

“If there was a case – Phoenix, as they named it – they would have solved it six, seven years ago. But, that is not the issue here – this is just another attempt to cast a shadow over the Macedonian identical features, because all so-called illegal monuments in this case are related  to the  historical continuity of the Macedonian people’s struggle for its own state and its own identity. Perhaps it would be much better if all the reporters here, along with the cameras, would visit the village of Slupchane (ethnic Albanian village) and ask who issued the permission for the monument there, who and how much did they pay for that, or maybe you should go to Zayas, Kolari and many other places around the country, with similar illegal objects, and reasonable suspicions of much more spectacular cases that this one, which only serves to defocus the public from the crimes of these several families that have taken Macedonia hostage. You should ncourage the Public Prosecutor to start investigation on these cases”, Mickoski said.