Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, has firmly stated that his party will not agree to the inclusion of Bulgarians inMacedonia’s Constitution under the existing conditions or in the future. He emphasized that this stance is a matter of principle, regardless of whether VMRO-DPMNE leads the government or not during his leadership.

Mickoski pointed out that, from his perspective, Bulgaria has not demonstrated any goodwill toward Macedonia so far. He questioned what actions or signals Bulgaria has shown as a sign of goodwill, stating that he sees only silence.

When asked about the upcoming presidential elections, Mickoski clarified that VMRO-DPMNE does not intend to boycott the polls. He expressed confidence that his party is the favorite in these elections and predicted that the VMRO-DPMNE candidate would receive around 100,000 more votes than the candidates from SDSM and DUI after the first round. Therefore, he believes that there is no need for his party to boycott the elections.

Mickoski criticized the current authorities, accusing them of being irresponsible toward the state and its resources. He raised concerns about the financial burden of holding three election cycles in a short period, especially considering the two rounds of presidential elections. He suggested that a logical solution would be to schedule the presidential runoff to coincide with the parliamentary elections and proposed a leaders’ meeting to discuss and agree on the election dates, allowing for a campaign in the coming months.