Skopje, 10 July 2025 (MIA) -- The state's diplomatic efforts were successful and the country was given more time to begin implementing the UNESCO recommendations to protect the Ohrid region, according to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in his comment on the World Heritage Committee's decision to postpone putting Ohrid on the List of World Heritage in Danger until next year.

Mickoski said a demolition contractor would be found to tear down illegal buildings.

He also accused "persons close to parties in the previous government" for abusing their office in issuing phony construction permits and ignoring code violations.

He said the opposition had been looking forward to Ohrid being put on the World Heritage in Danger List whereas the government had fought for a chance for Ohrid to get more time to act on the recommendations that should have already been implemented.

"That is one more bad thing that happened in the past, in the time of SDSM. I watched those press conferences," Mickoski said.

"I did not want to react then because we fought -- while they were jubilant -- we fought a fierce diplomatic offensive to give Ohrid a chance for another transitional period to begin implementing the recommendations that, unfortunately, had not been implemented by the previous government. 

"Not only that, but persons close to parties in the previous government kept abusing their connections to individuals close to the previous government," he said.

He said the UNESCO reports were on the Ohrid region between 2017 and 2024.

"Through a coordinated intersectoral diplomatic activity, we succeeded in getting an additional period to begin implementing those recommendations," Mickoski said.

He said the Ministry of Transport had issued a call for a demolition company that would remove structures built illegally, including apartment buildings raised on phony construction permits.

"And I don't need to tell the public who the main protagonist is, in this abuse of office in the Ohrid and Struga region," the prime minister added. 

Earlier Thursday, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to postpone the inscription of the Ohrid region on the List of World Heritage in Danger, giving the Municipality of Ohrid and the central government another year to meet their committments.

The authorities need to follow the recommendations in UNESCO's Reactive Monitoring mission reports on the state of the Ohrid region and report to UNESCO on their progress by Feb. 1, 2026. 

The postponement came after the Macedonian delegation in Paris submitted an amendment against the adoption of the draft decision of the World Heritage Committee inscribing the Ohrid region on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The draft decision was based on the prolonged deterioration of the Ohrid region's cultural and natural heritage due to the inadequate enforcement of regulations and the limited implementation of conservation actions, which UNESCO said led to "irreversible degradation." mr/