Lefkov accuses Filipche of stoking panic over data centres to protect personal interests
Lefkov says Filipche’s warnings about data centres are alarmist and may mask personal interests; he distinguishes private investments from state negotiations and cites five or six potential investors.
Mile Lefkov, a member of VMRO-DPMNE’s executive committee and a party MP, attacked SDSM and Venko Filipche at a press briefing today, accusing them of deliberately alarmist messaging about planned data centres.
At the event Lefkov said SDSM’s campaign is framed as a series he described as "spreading panic and hysteria among the citizens." He added that Filipche appears either to misunderstand the basics of data centre projects or to be protecting personal interests.
State projects versus private investments
Lefkov drew a distinction between private investments — such as the individual project in Pehchevo — and any process in which the state itself would negotiate to host or build data centres. He said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has already explained publicly how an official state procedure would be handled.
According to Lefkov, the government has been negotiating with "five or six potential investors," and when the state decides to take an institutional step toward construction, the process will be presented publicly. He stressed that the authorities would not take measures that jeopardise the environment or citizens’ living standards — concerns Filipche has claimed to raise.
Lefkov concluded by suggesting that Filipche’s interventions are motivated by private interests rather than genuine environmental or social worries. The opposition MP called on SDSM to stop what he characterized as disinformation and to allow official procedures to run transparently.
Photo: press material from the event
