SDSM urges President Siljanovska‑Davkova to tell Mickoski reconciliation cannot be built by insulting citizens

The Social Democratic Union (SDSM) has urged President Gordana Siljanovska‑Davkova to take her Ilinden address directly to Hristijan Mickoski, arguing that the causes of young people leaving the country are linked to the policies and rhetoric of his party.

SDSM says the exodus of young Macedonians is driven by "crime, corruption and isolation created by his rule," and called on the president to make that point to the VMRO‑DPMNE leader rather than offer generalized appeals.

In a sharp statement, the party also criticised the tone of political discourse and the foreign‑policy posture it blames on Mickoski. SDSM wrote: "For a wise foreign policy tell him that 'we will wait for decades' and 'goodbye Europe' is not a wise policy. That is a policy of deliberate blockade and collapse. For national reconciliation tell him that reconciliation is not done when you call citizens 'dregs of society', 'a swamp', 'mediocrities' and 'vultures'. Reconciliation is not done when 40 percent of the media systematically divide the people into 'traitors' and 'patriots'."

SDSM accuses anti‑European campaigning and foreign influence

The opposition also warned that true reconciliation cannot happen amid what it called an anti‑European campaign and the dominance of Serbian and Russian interests in a NATO member state.

Addressing the president directly, SDSM added: "If the president really means what she said today — let her tell it to Mickoski. That would mean something not only for young people, but for all citizens who want a better future in their own homeland."

Siljanovska‑Davkova’s Ilinden speech had stressed that the state is preserved and defended by a democratic political system, by constitutional patriotism, by investing in young people, by a wise foreign policy and by national reconciliation. She also said: "Nobody has the right to revise our national history."

Photo: press material from the event