The head of the Macedonian Film Agency Gorjan Tozija reversed the announcement that was made in media outlets yesterday and said that he is not resigning his position, despite the scandal he caused in relations with Croatia and Slovenia.
Tozija posted dozens of angry rants aimed mainly at Croatia, but also Slovenia and even Hungary. He declared Croatia a fascist country, accusing its Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his HDZ party of being criminals and neo-Nazis. The socialist appointed official was apparently ticked off by the recent scandal in which the Macedonian Post Office issued a shocking stamp that portrayed a Greater Croatia, and the way this incident was received in the Croatian press.
Croatia Foreign Minister Gordan Radman yesterday spoke with the Macedonian Minister Nikola Dimitrov and demanded an apology from Tozija. Croatia reminded Macedonia of its unconditional support for our EU integration and asked whether Tozija, who is a Government appointee, speaks for the Government when he insults the country. It’s unclear whether Dimitrov sought to protect Tozija after this conversation. Shortly after, a pro-Government news site announced that Tozija will resign. But this morning, in an interview, Tozija came out unapologetic and claimed that all criticism of his comments comes only from “right wing news sites”.
Tozija, who has done a good share of business in Croatia, allegedly even as he was appointed to his position in Macedonia, also listed actor Rade Serbedzija to come to his aid. The two were most recently involved in the 2015 film The Liberation of Skopje that was richly supported by the Film Agency and Euroimage.
In his interview this morning Tozija insisted that his dispute with Croatia comes after he canceled the production of a historically themed TV series that was being filmed by Jadran Film. Tozija said that the portrayal of Macedonian history in the series could be seen as harmful to Macedonia’s relations with the neighbors, implying that he censored the series as part of the campaign of appeasement of neighboring countries and rewriting of Macedonian national history initiated after the SDSM party grabbed power in 2017.
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