Filipche: Mickoski 'talks nonsense' and risks isolating the country from the EU

Venko Filipche, president of the opposition SDSM, sharply criticised Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski at a press conference today, accusing him of undermining North Macedonia’s European prospects with alarmist comparisons and a confrontational stance.

Filipche: a dangerous comparison

Addressing the public remarks made by the prime minister, Filipche asked rhetorically: "Is it possible for a person to be such a complete idiot and to completely isolate the country from the European Union?" He said the tone and content of Mickoski’s arguments risk pushing the country into a dead end after three decades of pursuing EU membership.

Filipche dismissed Mickoski’s attempt to frame the domestic debate through international examples, saying the comparison with Iceland was misleading and dangerous. He said citizens should not be treated as naive when weighing the country’s EU path.

Filipche also quoted the line Mickoski has used to justify his position, summarising the prime minister’s indicators: "The EU referendum in Iceland failed, anti-immigrant parties are winning in Germany, Le Pen leads in France — those are our indicators," Mickoski says. Filipche argued these points ignore deeper political and economic integration that keeps many smaller states engaged with Europe.

Opposition officials called for a more substantive debate on EU strategy and warned against rhetoric that could erode trust in institutions and foreign partners. Filipche said the government must present concrete policies rather than reliance on selective foreign examples.

Photo: SDSM)