VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski said that the party will not recognize a census that violates Eurostat standards and in which the diaspora is counted among the actual residents of Macedonia. Mickoski did an interview with the Albanian language TV21 channel at a time when Albanian parties demand that the census continues and Albanian emigrants are counted along with the citizens.

We will not recognize such a census. It’s clear what is acceptable under the Eurostat methodology. What we have now is listing of the diaspora. There is clear distinction between listing of the members of the diaspora and a census of the resident population. It’s in the first three sentences of the Eurostat methodology. I tell you openly and transparently – VMRO-DPMNE will recognize the census of the resident population. That will be counted here, in the country, between September 5th and 30th. Everything else is diaspora which is being listed, Mickoski said.

Mickoski got Prime Minister Zaev to give up on his idea to hold a “corona census” in April. The process is stopped and the Parliament is currently discussing a law that will officially postpone it for September.