Stoilkovikj responds to SDSM criticism: "Both live and on an obituary I'm more handsome"

The exchange of accusations between the opposition SDSM and Ivan Stoilkovikj, president of the Democratic Party of the Serbs in North Macedonia and the current Minister of Local Self-Government, escalated after a Facebook post and reactions published at the regional level.

In a Facebook post accompanied by a black-and-white photo of Stoilkovikj, SDSM accuses him of using language of division and says his rhetoric is an exact copy of Vucic's campaign in the country. In the post, SDSM said: "Stoilkovikj is hardening the rhetoric. And the VMRO gang attacked the young people who carried a banner with the truth about the water in Novo Selo. Vucic has his own 'thugs', and now Mickoski is trying to create his own violent men and beaters."

The minister's reply

For Stoilkovikj, SDSM's post is morbid. He replied with a message on Facebook: "A message with an obituary, truly desperate! Both live and on an obituary I am more handsome than you and do not forget, in the end beauty always defeats evil."

The intensified exchange of messages came after a portal this week published a reaction from the Regional Board Kumanovo of the Serbian Community in North Macedonia, which used strong epithets, including "political vomit" and "spiritual degenerate." The text was also shared by Stoilkovikj, who called on members of the Serbian community "not to descend to the level of the evil‑decayed SDSM crew, led by the political dunster Venko Filipche."

This was followed by reactions from the Serbian political scene. The Democratic Party (DS) judged that "Stoilkovikj's attack on Filipche is not a defense of Serbian interests, but political violence from Vucic." LSV assessed the text as a political pamphlet whose goal is to protect Stoilkovikj; as they reacted, "The pamphlet with insults against Filipche is not the position of the Serbian people, the goal is to protect Stoilkovikj."

SDSM constantly accuses that Stoilkovikj is part of the "Serbian world" and that he defends Russian interests in a NATO member country. Last week SDSM leader Venko Filipche announced the submission of an interpellation against the minister for, as he said, violent behavior and insults toward MPs during the session on the government reconstruction and during the break. "I expect a big crisis from September," Filipche said and announced a larger offensive by SDSM in the Assembly.

Photo: press material from the event