Skopje, 18 September 2025 (MIA) - The situation is under control. People should be at ease since institutions react quickly whenever challenges arise, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said late Thursday in an interview with Alsat M TV regarding the fires and claims of indications of hybrid attacks.

“There are clear indications. We have reasonable doubt about who may have been the instigator of all this. I am very pleased that in record time, institutions working together successfully managed to deal with the challenge. Today I can confirm that the situation in Drisla, Vardarishte and Trubarevo is stable, with no smoke, unlike what we saw in previous years,” Mickoski said.

Responding to a question about where the centers of power are, Mickoski stated that he did not want to give a geographic comment, adding that his remarks reflect the information he has and the justified suspicions the Government holds.

“Regarding the situation at home, there is already a group of 20 people under surveillance, suspected of deviant behaviour in past period. I leave it to the authorities to do their job,” Mickoski said.

He emphasized that there are centers of power that want Macedonia weakened and hindered in its progress.

“The centers of power are those who do not want Macedonia to succeed, to be stable, to develop, to achieve, to grow economically, to uphold the rule of law, and to be free of corruption and crime, unlike in the past 15 years. They want to see the Macedonia of seven years ago, humiliated, robbed, enslaved, with politicians who are molded,” he said.

Regarding efforts to tackle the fires, he said that since the beginning of the season around 30 people have been arrested on suspicion, with evidence in some cases that they set the fires. Arrests have also been made in connection with the Vardarishte and Trubarevo fires.

“Regarding the incidents in July, when sudden large fires broke out at several locations around Skopje, several people were detained. Some were under reasonable suspicion of participating in the arson. Over the summer, in Vardarishte an operation took place, the police arrested several individuals and detention was ordered. The same occurred in Trubarevo,” the Prime Minister Mickoski said.

As he noted, the majority of fires are not accidental, but rather caused by human factors.

Photo: screenshot