“Some ambassadors have begun to interfere in the country’s internal affairs excessively, and that has to end. We remain open for cooperation, but will not allow ambassadors to interfere in the internal political affairs of the country. We will not allow pardoned criminal Zoran Zaev to form a government with forgery, VMRO-DPMNE will not allow it!”, said former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to protestors in a heated atmosphere in front of the State Election Commission, presenting them the proclamation of the Executive Committee of the party.
Although some of the diplomats immediately warned on the rhetoric of the protestors, pointing out that the protest in front of the SEC must not get out of control and that the Commission should be left to work without pressure, Gruevski’s appearance and speech, along with the proclamation of the Executive Committee of VMRO-DPMNE, further more heated the atmosphere.
Emphasizing that he will not allow “cantonization and redefining of the country”, under any conditions, Gruevski also stated that VMRO-DPMNE in the future will not accept non-standard and hybrid solutions in any sector, if such do not exist in EU member countries, and that he would fight for the “de-Soros-ization and the strengthening of an independent civil sector”.
“VMRO-DPMNE, historically and now, has been and will be a pro-Western party and oriented towards EU and NATO!”, said Gruevski sending a message for preserving Macedonia: “This gathering of yours is an outcry of every citizen’s conscious”
However, Gruevski also stressed that certain foreign representatives were interfering “in the direction of post-electoral engineering”, and announced that VMRO-DPMNE will not participate at meetings or negotiations in which ambassadors or other foreign representatives are participating, and at which decisions are made for which representatives elected by the people decide on. “So that no one can forge the election results!’, stated Gruevski.
On Friday night, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE met with US Ambassador Jess Baily and EU Ambassador Samuel Zbogar, with who, according to pro-government media, he spoke on the “scandalous decision of the State Election Commission” on annulling the voting in one polling station in the Sixth electoral Unit and the proclamation of the Executive Committee adopted the next day, even then he warned that VMRO-DPMNE would not accept the decisions of the SEC, which could change the redistribution of the mandates. Even though diplomats had stressed that leadership is expected from political representatives, primarily for preventing an escalation of the situation, according to certain media. Gruevski has openly threatened, which is also emphasized in the party announcement, that they cannot control the anger of the people, whose next steps they cannot predict, if the institutions do not work according to the law.
Gruevski had said to Baily that building the new majority for the government coalition also depends on the influence of external factors, and that he and his fellow party members present at the meeting –have no authority to inform him which external factors this concerns.
The tone of the party announcement is a clear message that VMRO-DPMNE is not condemning the statements made by the speakers – exposed party figures at the protests in front of the SEC, among which was also the message of Filip Petrovski, Director of the National Archives, addressed to an unnamed ambassador “who is already leaving – to not provoke Macedonia anymore!”
“VMRO-DPMNE has no dilemma in terms of membership in NATO, EU and relations with the US, and the best proof for that is the Declaration for strategic partnership, but that does not mean that certain individuals, the party or the state, cannot express disagreement with certain steps of individuals representing the US”.
After EU Ambassador Zbogar had also expressed concern in regards to the rhetoric that was used by some speakers at the protests in front of the SEC, VMRO-DPMNE addressed him as well with part of the announcement: “The party stressed that for more than two years it has been concerned by the rhetoric, but also by the activities that were undertaken during the protests that took place in Macedonia, such as setting the offices of the president of the country on fire, breaking and destruction of state property, attempts to forcibly enter and burn down the headquarters of VMRO-DPMNE that was prevented by the police, and many more similar incidents. We support peaceful protests and do not support hate speech, but we also regret that Brussels and the international community did not express such concern in the previous two years, when protests took place”, announced VMRO-DPMNE.
According to VMRO-DPMNE, at the meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Arne Sanes Bjornstad, Gruevski and senior party officials had noted that the party “will not allow for post-electoral engineering to be carried out”, and that “serious interference of certain representative of the international community in the internal affairs of the country and in the interpolitical and intraparty affairs”, is a practice that according to VMRO-DPMNE – “must stop!”
According to the statement of former EU Ambassador, Irish diplomat Erwan Fouere for “24 News”, VMRO-DPMNE has disqualified from the new government, because it clearly opposes the implementation of the urgent reform priorities and the work of the Special Prosecutor’s office”.
