During his debate with opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, Zoran Zaev acknowledged that his Government “made mistakes” when it placed bilingual signs, using the Albanian language along the Macedonian, in parts of Macedonia with little to no Albanians.

Zaev, who is dependent on Albanian votes for his political survival, sheepishly said that it was a mistake to place such signs in municipalities where Albanians are below 20 percent of the total population, and that it will be rectified and the signs will be taken down. As many other times during the debate, Mickoski responded with incredulity that it was a “mistake”.

To follow up on the issue, Alfa TV asked the Government, which is now ran by Zaev loyalist Oliver Spasovski, if it is taking any of its officials to task for making the “mistake”. The Government’s PR service avoided responding to the question.

Signs placed on Government buildings across Macedonia have recently been under attack from residents, presumably both for the use of the Albanian language, and the imposed name “North Macedonia”.