On a day when Macedonians got a new taste of what the Prespa treaty entails for them, as the national anthem was deliberately left out of the welcoming ceremony for Alexis Tsipras, VMRO-DPMNE leaders during their election rally in Resen warned that this is just a sign of things to come.

No sports game, no national event, can be held without the anthem. But, the so-called historic meeting of the two neighboring countries we had today, was turned into nearly a private meeting between Messrs Tsipras and Zaev. This was an insult for the Macedonian people and the Macedonian state. But, they have their reasons, the reason is “North Macedonia”, said VMRO presidential candidate and strong critic of the Prespa treaty Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova during the rally in Resen.

According to Siljanovska, the event in Skopje today is not only a violation of the law, but a declaration about the fate of the country whose symbols are being ignored and pushed to the side, and about the continued erosion of the Macedonian dignity and statehood.

Without the right to national symbols there is no right to self-determination. Only those who believe that something planted without roots, like “North Macedonia” is, can survive, only they can say that we should just ignore the anthem when it’s convenient, Siljanovska added.

VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski called on the supporters in Resen, and in Struga before that, to join the opposition party and support its candidate, as the only guarantee to reverse the continuing slide of Macedonia.

The fight won’t be won by itself. We have to stand up and face the challenge, no matter how difficult it is. And especially, we must respond to all those who tell us that it is too late, that we can’t change anything. This should only motivate us even more, to fight for justice for Macedonia, said Mickoski.

Mickoski also addressed the recent scandalous decision by the Appeals Court which confirmed that Zoran Zaev will face no responsibility for the well documented corruption scandal when he was recorded by a businessman from his native city of Strumica asking for a bribe amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros.

You all heard Zaev asking that the money are split with his brother Vice. Now the court says it never happened. They’re losing and they know it. This is why they are in such a hurry to prepare these not-guilty verdicts, to secure themselves for what is coming. They know that their clients in the judiciary, who now follow their every whim, will turn on them as soon as they are on the way out, said Mickoski, adding that all the talk about Macedonia joining the EU rings hollow when the judiciary is rigged in such a way that the Prime Minister of the country can escape a clear cut corruption case.

He presented the SDSM – DUI presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski as just another face of the Zoran Zaev regime. On the other hand, Mickoski said, professor Siljanovska will work to “put an end to the criminal cartel which is in power today”.