Hristijan Mickoski and other top VMRO-DPMNE officials joined thousands of citizens of Skopje for a large rally in front of the Government building this afternoon. The main demand of the protest is a retrial for the 16 protesters and police officials who were sentenced in the April 27th trial. This is the second such rally in a month, organized by diaspora groups, who consider the sentenced protesters heroes who stood up for the Macedonian Constitution and against the imposed name change.

The people are losing their patience. I fear that the situation will radicalize even more if Zaev and SDSM continue to act indifferently. I urge them to stop playing with the people, Mickoski said.

Even Zaev supporters like President Pendarovski and Ali Ahmeti accepted that the terrorism charges used in the trial are not appropriate. Zaev used the trial to pressure three VMRO members of Parliament into voting for the name change in exchange for pardons.