Skopje, 29 April 2024 (MIA) – Retired major-general Pavle Arsoski, ZNAM list principal in the third election district, says in an interview with MIA it is clear from the results of the first round of the presidential elections that a stable government cannot be formed without ZNAM.

Regarding negotiations over any future government, ZNAM will offer all political stakeholders to sign a declaration that includes the most important national red lines.

Arsoski says the ZNAM Movement is a political entity from the citizens and will serve the citizens, noting its ideology is based on Ilinden, the ASNOM documents and the 1991 independence referendum.

Our position is that in any negotiations over the formation of a future government, we will offer all political stakeholders to sign a declaration that includes the most important national red lines and a Macedonian national platform. All political entities that intend to form a government, and it is now definitely clear that a stable government cannot be formed without ZNAM, will have to agree and sign a document, a national platform, one that all government partners, and desirably all political stakeholders in Macedonia, will have to observe while in power. It mainly focuses on protecting the Macedonian continuity as people, history, culture, something that we do not intend to compromise over. We will ask all political stakeholders to sign this national strategy, adopt it in the Parliament, so they all observe it when in power, both domestically and in foreign policy,” says Arsoski.

He reiterates ZNAM’s position that the President must be elected at direct elections, as is the case now, adding that the party is against electing the head of state in the Parliament.

On the constitutional changes, Arsoski says ZNAM was the first political party to offer a way out of the situation, noting the EU must provide added guarantees and the negotiating framework must be adapted in order to be certain this is the last unprincipled requirement arising from a bilateral dispute on the country’s EU path, and that the constitutional amendments would enter into force on the day Macedonia joined the EU.

“Yes, we want to see Macedonia in the EU, this is our strategic objective, but we believe the accession should also be dignified, as Macedonians with a Macedonian continuity, history, tradition and nothing less,” adds Arsoski.

He says that presidential candidate Maksim Dimitrievski is the biggest winner on April 24 after he received about 84,000 votes, considering that the party has only been registered for 3-4 months.

Arsoski also comments on the reports over the telephone conversation between Dimitrievski and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski right after the release of the results from the first round of the presidential elections, highlighting that even if such communication took place, it is welcome but not the headline of the day. According to him, party leaders should communicate on a regular basis, demonstrating a higher level of political culture, regardless of the ideological differences, programmes, be it in power or opposition, something that has not been practiced in Macedonia until now.

Regarding the campaign for the presidential and the parliamentary elections, Arsoski says ZNAM is having a positive campaign while criticizing policies “of the past seven years of SDSM’s catastrophic rule and the prior VMRO-DPMNE government, both in combination with DUI”.

Asked about his motivation to go into politics after his retirement as army major-general, he says the only objective, an honorable one, was to secure a better future for future generations.

I could not stay put and had to engage in another way and help the country. If the country gave me everything through the army, I felt an obligation to repay Macedonia in another way, says Arsoski.

According to him, the Macedonian Army is a true NATO army but changes are needed in its leadership and the Defense Ministry, the most important aspect being the Army’s depoliticizing.

“There are a lot of things that need to change and we intend to depoliticize the Army and the other security, intelligence and counterintelligence services, while also resolving the status of professional soldiers,” says Arsoski.

Let’s solve a burning issue. In communication with defense unions, especially the one of professional soldiers, we are committed to solving the status of professional soldiers. Our plan and ultimate goal is that professional soldiers have the status of permanent employees, having all rights until their retirement, as do other Army members. We believe that professional soldiers deserve to have security and stability, says Arsoski.

He says ZNAM will insist on proper spending of Budget funds.

“The most important thing is to fight against corruption, especially high-level corruption, which is probably the source of all problems in the country, but also make Macedonia a more sustainable state,” says Arsoski and adds that the country is dependent on energy production and should produce as much energy as possible on its own.

He believes that the number one problem in the third election district is emigration, closely followed by agriculture, noting that ZNAM has projects aimed at supporting agriculture and farmers, since the sector is one where the country can be self-sustainable.

“We have large agriculture areas taken over by private entities, which use state subsidies, portion of which end up in parties, while the land remains unused. On the other hand, the farmer does not have the land at his disposal and has no guaranteed buyout prices,” says Arsoski.

He also highlights the statistics showing that entire towns are emigrating, “which is a disaster”.

Cvetanka Minovska

Translated by Ivan Kolekjevski

Photo: MIA

Video and editing: Andrej Brankovikj and Vladimir Rabasovikj