SDSM demands answers from Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski over Iva Mihailova's exit

SDSM has demanded accountability from Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski after Iva Mihailova left North Macedonia despite a court having confiscated both her Macedonian and Bulgarian passports. According to the party, the Ministry of Interior said there was no recorded exit from the country, while Bulgarian border police reported no recorded entry.

In a sharp statement, SDSM accused the minister and the ruling camp of handling the matter secretly.

SDSM calls on the ministry for clear answers

“Everything is done under the table. Deals that only those in the Government know,” SDSM said, urging a full explanation of how Mihailova crossed the border while the court had deprived her of travel documents.

The party recalled that Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski previously said the judicial process is the responsibility of the courts and that the executive branch would not interfere. Mucunski also said the Macedonian health system can provide appropriate care and that the country was prepared to accept Bulgarian doctors for consultations as a gesture of goodwill.

“Now we see that she was let across the border. Although the court confiscated both documents, Macedonian and Bulgarian passport,” SDSM said, repeating its demand for clarification.

SDSM linked the episode to other security failures for which it holds the leadership of the Ministry of Interior responsible: the escape of the suspected drug dealer known as Cunata from a police station in Kočani; the case of five tons of drugs that, the party says, crossed the border; and the police’s handling of violent incidents.

“To this day there is no answer how five tons of drugs crossed the border,” SDSM said, adding: “The border is not a sieve only for drugs and fugitives from justice. With Mickoski, Toshkovski and VMRO the border is a sieve even when the court forbids it.”

Photo: press material from the event