Mickoski urges prosecutors to probe SDSM 'sabotage' over Alta Bank

At a joint press conference with EU ambassador Michalis Rokas held today on the occasion of the European Commission’s latest progress report on North Macedonia, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski twice urged the Public Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation into what he called “sabotage” by the opposition SDSM in connection with Alta Bank.

Asked by reporters about the opposition’s statements and claims regarding unpaid public liabilities, Mickoski insisted the matter exceeded routine political debate and should be treated as a criminal issue. He told journalists that the prosecutor should look into allegations of deliberate attempts to “spread panic among citizens” and to falsify the state’s unpaid debt figures.

"Read the opposition statement"

In his remarks Mickoski said: "I read that statement from the opposition SDSM. Therefore it is good for the Public Prosecutor’s Office to deal with this criminal act 'sabotage', because what they are saying is not just daily politics. This is much deeper than that and enters the foundations of the state. So can you, being part of the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, recognize better performance in the Macedonian economy and adjust your assessments for 2026 if the Government is faking? No. Of course not. In that way they accuse the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, not the Government."

Mickoski also dismissed calls for arrests linked to Alta Bank as hysterical, and sought to reassure the public that even in the worst-case scenario the state would cover clients' claims. He guaranteed that "the state will pay clients to the last cent."

The prime minister referenced opposition assertions that, when SDSM relinquished power, unpaid public liabilities stood at 55 percent and that the figure will exceed 68 percent by the end of the year — a claim he used to insist prosecutors should scrutinize for possible manipulation rather than leave it as partisan rhetoric.

Photo: K.Popov)