VMRO-DPMNE member of Parliament Branko Petrusevski claims that two members of the Zaev cabinet were denied a NATO clearance certificate. This has become a major issue for Zaev as NATO rejected the nomination of his and Defense Minister Sekerinska’s choice for a military representative to Brussels.

Petrusevski said that one of the two ministers is Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, one of Zaev’s top lieutenants, who himself acknowledged that he hasn’t yet received one, despite the highly sensitive office he holds. According to Petrusevski, the other is recently appointed Justice Minister Bojan Maricic.

Maricic also runs a department which is closely involved with the security of the country. Does NATO know something about him that the public doesn’t? He is failing to get to the bottom of major corruption scandals such as the collapse of the Eurostandard Bank, the Daka scandal in Tetovo and, of course, the Racket scandal. Macedonia is drowning in crime and corruption that are enabled by the top of the Government. Are these the reasons why Maricic is denied a NATO certificate?, Petrusevski asked.

In the case of the army officers who were denied a clearance, it is widely reported that the reason were their contacts with security services that are not friendly to NATO, particularly the Serbian intelligence which has extensive links to Macedonia.