"Latas and Talevska - tools of media darkness": Kuzevska accuses Mickoski of building a propaganda system modelled on Vucic

At a press conference at SDSM headquarters, Bogdanka Kuzevska, SDSM spokesperson delivered a series of serious accusations against the VMRO-DPMNE government, warning that Macedonia stands on the brink of total media darkness — organized, financed, and implemented following the model of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

"The media darkness in Macedonia begins exactly as we warned," said Kuzevska, emphasizing that the process is not accidental but systematic — with the clear goal of controlling information and concealing government failures.

Copy-paste of Vucic

The opposition's central thesis is that Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski is literally copying Vucic's authoritarian strategy for capturing the media space. "The policy is implemented by Hristijan Mickoski modeled after Aleksandar Vucic. Everything is copy-paste," Kuzevska stated, adding that Serbian pro-government media capital and entities are already infiltrating and dominating the Macedonian media landscape.

Specifically, SDSM accused Alta Bank — which they claim is owned by the Vucic brothers — of financing media outlets in Macedonia that are meant to serve as the government's propaganda machine. Even more alarming, Kuzevska noted that this bank is under investigation in the European Union due to "suspicions about the origin of the money," making the link between organized crime and the media takeover even more explicit.

"Organized criminal group VMRO"

The opposition did not hold back on political language. The SDSM representative directly called the ruling party an "organized criminal group VMRO," claiming that the media project is not a political strategy but a criminal plan to cover up accountability. Mickoski's pressure on the judiciary, she said, is part of the same scheme — to ensure that neither the media nor the courts will hold them accountable.

Poisoning citizens and poisoning information

The most emotionally resonant part of the address connected the abstract media project to the concrete safety of citizens. The speaker directly referenced the scandal of poisoned drinking water in Gostivar, claiming that the goal of media darkness is precisely to prevent the public from learning about such crises. "When this network is completed, citizens will no longer even hear that their drinking water is poisoned... They won't hear that no one took responsibility for poisoning a whole city," she said.

SDSM's conclusion was formulated in three steps which, they claim, are already underway: "First the citizens are poisoned, then the information is poisoned, in the end total darkness." This sentence, delivered at the close of the address, summarizes their narrative that the government not only failed to protect citizens but is actively working to ensure it never faces accountability for it.

SDSM also accused Mickoski of deliberately ignoring European Commission reports because he fundamentally "does not want the European Union" — an accusation which, if proven, would mean the government is consciously blocking the country's European path.

The government has not yet responded to the specific accusations made at the press conference.