In an interview with the Albanian language Klan TV, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said that Zoran Zaev signed the Prespa treaty in order to become Prime Minister and to save himself from the series of corruption charges following him, but also so that he can use his power to expand his business empire.
For one thing, he faced certain prison. He was seen asking for bribes as Mayor of Strumca. For another, he wanted to get a hold of the public procurement contracts, this is why he did it, Mickoski said.
Speaking to a majority Albanian audience, Mickoski portrayed the Prespa treaty as a national humiliation for the Macedonians.
How would Albanians in Albania react if they were forced to change their name, if you were told you are no longer Albanians? The response would be very bad. THis is what happened to us, our national dignity is devastated, our national pride is gone, nobody before would’ve dared to make the concessions Zaev made, Mickoski said.
He outlined the procedure to end the Prespa treaty as difficult, requiring 80 votes in Parliament to amend the Constitution, or at least the majority of the ethnic minority members of Parliament. And despite signing the treaty, Mickoski said, Macedonia is no closer to the EU.
We are no longer in the waiting room, they kicked us out, he said, after Macedonia was denied its request to open EU accession talks in the summer.
Mickoski portrayed the political situation in the country as one of persecution and abuse of the judiciary for the pursuit of power.
We face trials the likes of which we didn’t have during the Politburo. People are sentenced on the statement of one witness. In Montenegro, there was a trial in the attempted coup and the highest sentence was 5 years. Here, in the staged April 27th trial, Mr. Cavkov was sentenced to 18 years. They say, show me the man and I will give you his sentence, Mickoski added.
Addressing the Albanian voters, Mickoski said that the SDSM – DUI coalition has completely failed to improve the lives in majority Albanian parts of the country.
What did they do with Tetovo? In our term, we built a super modern emergency clinic worth upwards of five million EUR. We began work on the Popova Sapka gondola, and now the project has been stuck for three years. We built the new Tetovo University building and provided scholarships. Did they build anything? Did they even repair anything? They lied to you, brutally, Mickoski said.
According to recent polls, VMRO has a solid lead over Zaev’s SDSM party among ethnic Macedonians, and has a lead overall, but it’s narrowed down by the support which SDSM receives from Albanian voters.
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