Strumica, 4 April 2025 (MIA) - SDSM leader Venko Filipche said Friday that he and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski agreed yesterday to cooperate on the reform agenda within the Growth Plan, primarily on legislation related to judiciary, energy, culture and digitization. He once again called for a leaders' meeting including all parliamentary parties and denied the meeting being monoethnic.

"The meeting went well. We agreed to find a way to work on the reform agenda, as developed democracies have done, like Sweden and Germany. We will continue to be different from a political standpoint, but when it comes to the country, we must sit down and solve problems together. We must unite around the most important issues," Filipche told reporters in Strumica.

He added that the reform agenda within the Growth Plan was drafted by SDSM and signed by the incumbent authorities in Brussels.

"There are 7-8 pieces of legislation with a specific deadline that need to be adopted. One set of laws relate to judiciary, energy, culture and digitization. We will nominate experts in those fields and offer them to the ministries within the process of the laws' development. We might also continue with this in the National Euro-integration Council through a discussion with experts from the civil society," said Filipche.

On reactions from parties of ethnic Albanians that the meeting was monoethnic, the SDSM leader reiterated the call for a leaders' meeting.

"I called for a meeting of all party leaders. One of the leaders of a party of ethnic Albanians said this would be a waste of time, and now I am accused of a monoethnic meeting of sorts. The meeting followed the Kochani tragedy, when we perceived there are outstanding issues that are important for the country's development and that all stakeholders must cooperate, regardless of the political background," said Filipche.

He said that yesterday's meeting was between the leaders of the two largest parties in the Macedonian bloc.

"The PM was the first to accept the meeting without having any remarks. I believe we should continue towards organizing a meeting of leaders of large political parties, including the ones from the Albanian bloc, although I do not see any need for a division between parties from а Macedonian and an Albanian bloc when it comes to the country's interest," said Filipche and added that SDSM is a multiethnic party.

Photo: MIA