President Stevo Pendarovski welcomed the decision by VMRO-DPMNE to establish communication with him and to schedule a meeting at the top level – with VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski, on Friday. The move comes after Pendarovski agreed with Mickoski’s position that the defendants in the April 27th trial are not terrorists and should not have been charged and sentenced as such.

It is good that after nine months of no communication, we are again communicating. It can lead to more productive political dialogue, which is badly lacking in our country, Pendarovski told Deutsche Welle.

VMRO-DPMNE demands a retrial for the defendants, with reasonable charges, instead of the current openly politically motivated charges. Pendarovski has the authority to pardon them, but at the moment it is not clear if he is thinking about it.