Skopje, 23 September 2025 (MIA) - SDSM leader Venko Filipche reacted on Tuesday to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski's statement on the situation in the judiciary, pointing out that the only ones who are disappointed and dissatisfied with the standstill on reforms in the judiciary are the citizens.

Filipche said that PM Mickoski is directly responsible for the situation in the judiciary and the failure to implement necessary reforms.

"I believe it is absolutely unacceptable for the Prime Minister to act as an independent analyst and only comment on the situation in the judiciary, when he is directly responsible for implementing the reforms. So far, none of the reforms have been implemented, through adoption of reform laws in the judiciary in accordance with the Growth Plan," Filipche said in a statement to the media.

He noted that none of the reform laws planned to be passed have been submitted to the Parliament.

"Twelve laws were planned for this year, seven of which were to be passed by June 2025. None have been submitted to the Parliament, and an additional five that were to be passed from June to December 2025 in accordance with the Growth Plan - something to which a certain budget from the European Union is tied, of which we have certainly already lost a part. Of those five laws, not a single one has been passed by the Ministry of Justice," said Filipche.

He added that the VMRO-DPMNE led Government, which has an overwhelming majority in the Parliament, 58 MPs and an almost two-thirds majority with the ruling coalition, has no reason for what is happening now with the failure to implement reforms in the judiciary.

"I believe that everything this Government does is just empty words, just statements, just announcements, and everything that was a pre-election lie last year, it is now clear that none of it will be implemented, and we are practically seeing the same pattern of behaviour now in the light of this campaign when we are bombarded by false ads. I regret that this is the case, especially in a sector where reforms are inevitable, where it is written on paper by the EU what needs to be done and what needs to be implemented, in order to achieve a strong and independent judiciary. That is what citizens expect and demand," Filipche said. 

Photo: SDSM