Skopje, 9 December 2025 (MIA) - Despite the opposition's attempts to create a false image that I and the VMRO-DPMNE MPs would not appear at the inquiry committee session, you all saw that we were in attendance, as were the President and the Parliament Speaker. We heard what the parents, organizations and lawmakers said, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told reporters after the session of the Standing Inquiry Committee on protection of citizens' rights and liberties over the petition filed by citizens' association that brings together parents of the victims in the Kochani nightclub fire.

PM Mickoski said the opposition has continually pushed lies but "the truth is entirely different".

"Let me once again extend my condolences to all those who lost their loved ones in this tragic event and those injured. The country will do everything in its power to help the injured get the treatment they need. Of course, we share our pain with the families who lost their loved ones," said Mickoski.

Asked why shouldn't the inquiry committee discuss the tragedy, while committees were set up for the past tragedies - Laskarci and Besa Trans bus crashes, and the Tetovo modular hospital - the PM said the latter ones already had court rulings in place. 

"We can talk about these events because all facts were presented during a trial, while in this process, the Chief Prosecutor says 'we have three separate cases, of which none have reached a first-instance verdict'. The Laskarci, Besa Trans and modular hospital cases have seen verdicts, some are already in second-instance, all details of the investigation are known to the public and an inquiry committee is there to discuss if someone was privileged, if justice was done, if sentences were measured," said Mickoski.

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