Skopje, 18 March 2025 (MIA) - No one will be protected and if anyone has any blame for the event, they will be held responsible, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said when quizzed by journalists Tuesday if the Mayor of Kochani, Ljupcho Papazov, will be held responsible for the fire in the nightclub. The PM said investigators will examine all documents at the municipality during the day.

“Whether the mayor is responsible, and the scope of his responsibility, will be determined by the Prosecutor’s Office. In his resignation, the mayor wrote he remains available for everything. He is not running away. He is here. As far as I know, investigative bodies will enter the municipality today and check all documents. If you are trying to insinuate that we will protect him since he comes from VMRO-DPMNE, you are lying to yourself. We won’t protect anyone. Even if it’s me, a sister or a brother of mine, they will be held to account,” Mickoski told journalists.

Mickoski told journalists “not to speculate or create information that aren’t compatible with the truth”.

“There will be criminal accountability for everyone. If moral or political accountability is needed, come after me. I am here, I will handle the entire challenge, but first I will defeat them as I have defeated them many times, and then when we have elections the citizens will judge whether and who should be held to account. Just please do not speculate, let’s not create information that have nothing to do with the truth. If someone has made a mistake, they will be held responsible. We have shown and demonstrated this,” Mickoski added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry confirmed reports that searches are underway in the building of the Municipality of Kochani to collect the necessary documents in relation to the authorizations of the municipal administration over the licenses and work of the “Pulse” nightclub. 

Photo: MIA Archive