Dejan Trajkovski criticises Hristijan Mickoski's comment on threats
A Bitola professor questions whether the prime minister’s comment about "knowing how" to resolve attackers risks promoting vigilantism.
Published: 15 September 2026. A public exchange unfolded after Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said he knew how to deal with people who threatened him, but that the matter had been handed over to the authorities. The comment prompted a sharp reaction from Dejan Trajkovski, a professor at the Technical Faculty in Bitola, who questioned what Mickoski meant by "knowing how" to resolve the attacker.
Professor challenges what "knowing how" implies
Trajkovski criticized the prime minister’s phrasing and posed pointed questions about the methods implied. He wrote that if the prime minister were not an institution, he had suggested he ‘‘knew how to \"resolve\" the attacker,’’ and asked whether that meant "masked thugs in some dark alley."
In his message Trajkovski went on to ask whether Mickoski’s words were a call for citizens (who are not institutions) to take justice into their own hands, invoking images of the Wild West, or simply macho boasting about being a tough streetwise figure. He warned that such rhetoric amounted to "macho politics at the highest level," singling out the risk that it could encourage vigilantism.
Mickoski had said he learned about threats calling him a pig and claiming he would be "slaughtered" at the main square. He defended his comments by stressing his status as an officeholder. "I am still an institution. If I were not, I know how these things are resolved. I assume the institutions have taken over their responsibilities. The Ministry of Interior has taken matters within its competence; I hope the courts will act according to their powers," Mickoski said.
The dispute highlights a broader sensitivity about political rhetoric and the boundaries between personal expressions and calls to violence. Trajkovski’s public response came the day after the prime minister’s statement and has sparked debate over what leaders should say when faced with threats.
So far there have been no public updates on any criminal proceedings; authorities have said they are handling the case through the relevant institutions.
Photo: press material from the event
