Skopje, 9 October 2025 (MIA) — VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski at a campaign rally in Zelenikovo said SDSM, DUI and Levica had not learned from their defeat in the last elections and they were "unreformed and trapped in the past" whereas VMRO-DPMNE and the coalition were contributing to the country's development and progress.

Speaking about his political opponents, he said they had launched a smear campaign to tarnish him and VMRO-DPMNE mayoral candidates as well as other senior party members. He added that, however, this would not distract them from their plans to deliver on their promises given to citizens.

"There are politicians who live on the backs of Macedonia and the citizens — and then there are politicians who live for Macedonia and the citizens," Mickoski said.

According to him, voters in these elections have only two options to choose from. "Anyone who thinks there is a third option is delusional," Mickoski said. 

He also said SDSM, DUI and Levica were in an informal coalition bound together by their desire for power and their "pathological rage" toward VMRO-DPMNE.

However, he said, over the past 15 months VMRO-DPMNE and the coalition had shown how decades-old problems could be solved through hard and honest work. mr/