VMRO‑DPMNE: Venko Filipche adopted Rumen Radev’s positions and now wants to pass as a partisan
The party says Filipche promoted Rumen Radev’s positions, staged a march in Prilep before October 11, and acted in Bulgaria’s interests in the Iva Mihailova case.
VMRO‑DPMNE sharply criticized Venko Filipche on Monday, accusing him of publicly adopting positions linked to Bulgarian leadership and of trying to stage a partisan image ahead of the October 11 commemorations in Prilep.
In a written statement the party singled out what it called Filipche's alignment with Bulgarian president Rumen Radev's views and questioned the sincerity of his recent public appearance in partisan attire.
Party accuses Filipche of political theatre and foreign allegiance
VMRO‑DPMNE said that Filipche and, it claimed, his mentor Zoran Zaev, “erased the decisions of ASNOM” from the Macedonian Constitution and that the pair have downplayed Bulgarian wartime responsibility by portraying Bulgarian fascists in Macedonia during World War II as mere administrators rather than occupiers.
The party repeated its charge that the partisan uniform and the march in the city-hero Prilep, staged before 11 October, are camouflage. It also alleged that while Filipche was performing the partisan role, he continued to act in the interests of Rumen Radev and Bulgaria — specifically mentioning the recent case of Iva Mihailova, who fled to the neighbouring country.
VMRO‑DPMNE framed its remarks as a warning to citizens, writing that Filipche’s gestures are an attempt to hide a political orientation they consider hostile to national interests. The party’s message includes a direct sentence in which it labels Filipche a pro-Bulgarian actor and accuses him of trying to cloak that stance.
Filipche has not issued a public reply to these accusations in the party statement. The controversy adds to tensions over historical memory, constitutional changes and bilateral relations with Bulgaria ahead of national commemorations.
Photo: press material from the event
