VMRO-DPMNE asks whether Zaev and Filipche pressured doctor over Iva Mihailova's medical report

VMRO-DPMNE has demanded answers and an investigation after the party's spokesperson alleged that the medical report for Iva Mihailova may have been produced under pressure from senior politicians. At a press briefing the opposition accused a clinic director of acting at the behest of political figures and asked whether former SDSM leader Zoran Zaev or Health Minister Venko Filipche intervened.

Valentin Manasievski, the party's spokesperson, posed the central question directly: "The convicted criminal Ivan Barbov, who is a friend of the pardoned criminal Zoran Zaev, should say whether he received a call from the supreme leader of SDSM, Zaev, about Mihailova, or whether Filipche was the one who urged? Barbov confirmed that Zaev called him for patient examinations, but Barbov should say whether he was in contact with Filipche and whether he urged him for the report on Mihailova."

Allegations about the doctor and calls for accountability

Manasievski described Ivan Barbov as a doctor with a criminal past whom, he said, the U.S. State Department considers a controversial figure. He also claimed that the State Audit Office found unlawful conduct during Barbov's tenure as director and that prosecuting authorities have not handled the matter. These assertions were presented by the spokesperson as reasons why the doctor could be vulnerable to political influence.

Manasievski added: "Such a person is easy to exploit, especially if you appointed him director of a clinic, and that is exactly what Filipche and Zaev did. We expect answers and an investigation whether Filipche and Zaev are behind the report for Iva Mihailova, in order to help Bulgaria stage some kind of victimhood in a political sense."

The accusations come amid a separate attack from SDSM, which earlier accused Minister of Foreign Affairs Timcho Mucunski, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski of involvement in what SDSM called the scandal around the departure of Mihailova to Bulgaria.

According to court records, on 12 October Mihailova — a resident of Kocani with both Macedonian and Bulgarian citizenship who faces trial in Kocani on charges connected to a fatal traffic accident — left the country together with her lawyer. Her personal documents had reportedly been confiscated as a precautionary measure within the proceedings.

VMRO-DPMNE demanded that competent institutions clarify whether political pressure influenced the issuance of the medical report and said it expects a formal inquiry. SDSM, for its part, has questioned why Prime Minister Mickoski does not pursue extradition of former prime minister Nikola Gruevski in the same way it demands action in Mihailova's case.

Photo: VMRO-DPMNE