Skopje, 31 October 2025 (MIA) - I responsibly claim that these are the most transparent and fair elections organized in democratic Macedonia’s recent history, said VMRO-DPMNE leader and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski when asked on Friday to respond to SDSM leader, Venko Filipche’s accusations of bribery and pressure on the opposition’s mayoral candidates ahead of Sunday's runoff vote.

“These are the most transparent, most democratic and fair elections organized in democratic Macedonia’s recent history. The fact that certain politicians have issues with Freud and their conscience kicks in, leading them to project on their political opponent what they themselves would do – I believe that kind of behavior is not good and will not earn them points,” Mickoski said. 

Mickoski said the citizens too can witness that such a thing does not exist, adding that it is “outside his personal philosophy”, and if there are any indications, they should be reported and investigated.

“If they have any indications that this is happening, they know my phone number, they should feel free to call me and report it so we can see if that is the case. I responsibly claim that not only is this not the case, but also these local elections are elections in which the Macedonian citizens, as well as the government, have shown a certain level of maturity and they passed in the most peaceful and most democratic atmosphere and I expect this to be the case at Sunday’s runoff as well,” the VMRO-DPMNE leader stressed.

At a press conference earlier on Friday, the leader of SDSM, the country’s main opposition party, Venko Filipche said the party’s candidates faced pressure, intimidation, and institutional abuses by VMRO-DPMNE and ZNAM.  

"Both during the first round and over the past two weeks we have witnessed continued pressure on our candidates and activists by the police, the rapid deployment units, the social services, the Public Revenue Office, and we have detected this literally in all municipalities, especially intensified in 17 municipalities ahead of the runoff. It is clear that this is characteristic for VMRO-DPMNE, to always abuse the state apparatus whenever they are in power and to try to bribe the citizens," Filipche said. 

Photo: MIA