SDSM: 'Corridor diplomacy' cannot be presented as a high‑level meeting

SDSM sharply criticized how Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski presented his visit to the United States, saying an informal corridor exchange with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cannot be portrayed as an official meeting at the highest political level.

The party noted that the headline result of the trip is being presented as a $5 million grant for development of antimony at the Krstov Dol, Luke and Kriva Palanka sites, while the conversation with Rubio is being described as a meeting of "ultra high political level."

Protocol, optics and questions

SDSM criticized the protocol and the way the encounter was presented, arguing that a meeting of that rank is conducted formally. "A meeting of that rank is held in an office, in a hall, with an agenda and minutes. Not in a corridor. Not unbuttoned. Not without a tie. Not with hands in pockets," the party said.

The statement continued with a sarcastic description of how the country is being represented: "This is how the self-proclaimed elite represents us. Like in a tavern. While they call their own people dregs, the elite truly showed itself. On level," the party wrote.

The opposition party also said Mickoski's visit to the U.S. looked more like an "excursion" than a serious diplomatic engagement and asked whether there was an official agenda for the meeting with Rubio, a joint statement from the State Department, or any signed document. It also criticized the composition and cost of the delegation accompanying the prime minister and questioned how the visit was presented to the public.

Regarding the announced $5 million grant, SDSM raised concerns about the economic and environmental consequences of antimony mining in the Kriva Palanka region. The party noted that antimony is a metal used, among other things, in the military industry, and that its extraction, processing and waste storage raise questions about impacts on soil, water and air. SDSM contrasted the grant with funds reportedly spent on an independence celebration, saying: "For the celebration performance they threw 5.53 million euros of public money, and the prime minister returns from America with five million dollars for a mine."

Photo: press material from the event