Skopje, 18 April 2024 (MIA) — GROM presidential candidate Stevcho Jakimovski in Gevgelija on Thursday reacted strongly to Foreign Minister and European Front presidential candidate Bujar Osmani's statements given recently, saying he was leading "a giraffe policy."

"The giraffe gives milk to your neighbor, but eats in your yard," Jakimovski said, adding that Osmani was "talking all the time about Kosovo, about the Kosovars, yet he never says anything on improving the lives of citizens in the Republic of Macedonia."

Jakimovski also said Osmani was trying to disrupt the country's relations with Serbia.

"Let me publicly ask: What more should the Republic of Macedonia do for Kosovo? Did we give our sky for SR Yugoslavia to be bombed in 1999? Yes! Did we provide a base in Kumanovo, Petrovec and Katlanovo to station NATO soldiers for a potential intervention in SR Yugoslavia? Yes! Did we receive 300,000 refugees from Kosovo? Yes! Did we recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state? Yes! Did we demarcate the border? Yes! Did we vote for Kosovo to enter in all the institutions? And how did Kosovo respond in 2001? And another thing, how is Albin Kurti responding now by interfering in the internal politics of the Republic of Macedonia?" Jakimovski said.

On Osmani's announcement that North Macedonia would co-sponsor the UN Resolution on the Srebrenica genocide, the GROM presidential candidate called on President Stevo Pendarovski and VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova to comment.

"Do you have anything to say that we are to co-sponsor the UN resolution against Serbia? [...] Why are we meddling in these things? This is a Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian matter. How come they didn't ask the Slovenians to be co-sponsors, or the Italians, or the Romanians, or the Bulgarians? How come they asked you to be co-sponsors and to want to directly worsen relations with the Republic Serbia, which has been exceptionally fair to us?

"Serbia honestly gave back in 1992 what it had taken in 1918. Serbia granted autocephaly to the MOC. Serbia recognized us by our constitutional name. It withdrew the Yugoslav army and we created a state without firing a single bullet. It has been friendly toward the Republic of Macedonia all the time, especially during the corona," Jakimovski said, adding that the country should not be disrupting relations with a neighbor that was also an important trade partner.

"The UN Resolution on Srebrenica is none of our business," Jakimovski said. "Others should be dealing with it, and we should be maintaining good neighborly relations with all the countries of the Balkans, including Kosovo, but Serbia as well."

"Bear in mind that in this country there are also people who have respect for the people of Serbia," he said. mr/