Skopje, 13 October 2025 (MIA) – Not a single politician can go to Kochani with their head held high, said the leader of SDSM, Venko Filipche, at a rally Monday in Kochani.

“You don’t approach people who have lost everything and are yet to receive the truth with your head held high. You don’t approach those who have been seeking justice for months, while there were attempts at selective justice, with your head held high. You don’t approach those who were pressured over protests with your head held high. There is no dignity in arrogance and hypocrisy,” the SDSM leader said in Kochani.

Filipche added that no one who has helped build the system has a right to be absolved of the tragedy that happened in Kochani.

“I won’t say I came here with my head held high. I came here as a person who is aware that politics and the political parties are the ones who built this system the past thirty years. And no one has the right to be absolved of that. We can’t change things in the past, but we can learn from them and change the system, change the future,” Filipche said.

In his address, Filipche said the pain of the victims in Kochani is one that cannot be forgotten and a void that can never be filled.

“This is a tragedy that we must never forget – how fragile life is, how quickly everything can be lost, and how deeply we need humanity, respect, and care for one another. When I see the faces of the parents standing tall and demanding justice, and hear their voices filled with pain and dignity, I know that these people ask for nothing more than truth and justice,” Filipche stressed.

Filipche said SDSM proposed legislation in support of the victims, but the Government refused it.

“We proposed legislation that would provide financial support to the families of the victims and the injured, and we requested an international investigation to ensure there is no stain on this tragedy. But the Government refused, why they did that I’ll let you judge for yourselves,” Filipche said.

The opposition leader said SDSM published “the truth about Kochani when the institutions were silent, and the public was looking for answers”.

“We published the truth about Kochani when we saw the investigation is becoming selective, that someone was trying to confine it to a narrow circle, that officials from the institutions were being protected, that the public was left without answers. That’s when we came forward with facts, with documents, and with accurate information. When that happened, the Prosecutor’s Office had to act and the investigation was expanded,” Filipche said.

According to Filipche, in the past year, SDSM has fought for real and sincere reforms in the country.

“We fought for thorough reforms in the judiciary and the institutions. We fought to push this country forward towards the EU – because that is the only way we can change things from the ground up,” Filipche said at the rally in Kochani.

Photo: SDSM