Stoilkovikj to SDSM: "Both in person and on a death notice, I am more handsome than you"

The exchange of accusations between the opposition SDSM and Ivan Stoilkovikj, leader of the Democratic Party of the Serbs in Macedonia and current Minister of Local Self-Government, intensified after a Facebook post and a regional reaction shared online.

SDSM published a black-and-white photograph of Stoilkovikj on Facebook and accused him of using divisive language they say mirrors the tone of Aleksandar Vučić's campaign in the country. In their post they wrote: “Стоилковиќ ја заострува реториката. А ВМРО бандата се нафрли врз младите кои носеа транспарент со вистината за водата во Ново Село. Вучиќ си има свои 'батинаши', а сега Мицкоски се обидува да создаде свои насилници и тепачи”.

Minister's rebuttal

Stoilkovikj described the SDSM post as morbid and replied sharply in a Facebook message: "A message with a death notice, truly desperate! Both in person and on a death notice I am more handsome than you and do not forget, in the end beauty always defeats evil."

The latest escalation followed publication earlier this week of a reaction by the Regional Board Kumanovo of the Serbian Community in North Macedonia on a local portal. That text used harsh language including the phrases „политичка бљувотино“ and „духовен изроду“. Stoilkovikj shared the reaction and urged members of the Serbian community "да не паѓаат на нивото на од злото распаднатата СДСМ дружина, предводена од политичкиот дунстер Венко Филипче".

Responses came from political actors in Serbia as well: the Democratic Party (DS) in Serbia criticized Stoilkovikj's attack on Venko Filipche as not a defence of Serbian interests but "political violence from Vučić". The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) called the text a political pamphlet aimed at protecting Stoilkovikj; as one critic put it: "The pamphlet of insults against Filipche is not the position of the Serbian people, its purpose is to protect Stoilkovikj."

SDSM has repeatedly accused Stoilkovikj of belonging to the so-called "Serbian world" and of defending Russian interests in a NATO member state. Last week SDSM leader Venko Filipche said at a briefing that his party will submit an interpellation against the minister for what he described as violent behaviour and insults directed at MPs during the parliamentary debate on the government reconstruction and during the break. "I expect a big crisis from September," Filipche said, announcing a greater SDSM offensive in Parliament.

Photo: press material from the event