A rally in North Macedonia’s Kumanovo in support of the policy of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic triggered a strong reaction by the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM). Yet again, the opposition formation hurled accusations at the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, getting Bulgaria’s name involved.
The organizers of the rally – the Peace, Freedom, Stability civil association for progress in ethnic minority rights and interests – called for sending “a strong message of unity and support” by gathering “all supporters and citizens who respect the Serbian President’s policy.”
SDSM Execute Council member Andrej Zernovski commented in a Facebook post that if that were a rally in support of Bulgarian Prime Minister and former president Rumen Radev, then right-wing VMRO-DPMNE leader and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski “and their entire media network would shout about an interference in internal affairs, sovereignty in danger, and treason and would hold a news conference every two hours.” However, the publicly organized political rally in Kumanovo in support of “brother Vucic” was met with silence, no patriotic speeches, no dramatic posts, no condemnation, no patriotic news conference, Zernovski argued. “This is the best evidence of their hypocritical policy. The interference in the policy of another country is not a problem; their problem is only who does it,” he added.
According to him, if 3,504 Bulgarians living in North Macedonia are presented as a huge risks for the State and the people, then how is it possible that 35,939 Serbs in the country are not a threat to Macedonian identity, language, and culture. Zernovski believes that the Government is looking for an excuse to continue the country’s self-isolation. “This is not a matter of some fight for their identity, but cheap political manipulation of citizens’ emotions and fears. When it suits them, the foreign political rally is ‘brotherly support’. When it does not suit them, the same is ‘a national catastrophe,'” the post reads.
For quite some time, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE have been finding reasons to trade accusations daily, getting Bulgaria involved.
After Bulgaria’s Dara won the Eurovision song contest in Vienna on May 16, SDSM leader Venko Filipce called on VMRO-DPMNE to organize her welcoming back from Austria because she was “their representative” at the contest, all of them have Bulgarian passports, and they “have experience with protocol, cameras, and media.”
VMRO-DPMNE spokesperson Valentin Manasievski on Monday replied that “Filipce, top anti-Macedonian, has reached the top in politics and in order to save his career and prove he is ready to do anything to come to power, celebrated the Eurovision win of a neighbouring country.” On Tuesday, Manasievski noted that Filipce was yet to condemn the words of the Bulgarian Foreign Minister.
“For nearly two weeks now, Venko Filipce has been making excuses and has failed to condemn the disgraceful remarks made by Bulgarian Minister Petrova-Chamova, who called us ‘North Macedonians’. Filipce even takes pride in the very successes that have subjugated our country. With such soft policies, Filipce is giving the Bulgarian authorities room to blackmail us and claim that there is a small group of politicians in [North] Macedonia who will comply with their demands. Filipce remains loyal to Bulgaria for reasons known only to him. But it is worth noting that these reasons are blackmail by a group of Bulgarian politicians due to his criminal past with [former prime minister] Zoran Zaev,” Manasievski stated.