Gostivar, 7 October 2025 (MIA) — Ahead of the Oct. 19 local elections, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski spoke at a campaign rally in Mavrovo-Rostushe earlier Tuesday saying the opposition parties SDSM, DUI and Levica had a shared "desire for power" and "hatred toward VMRO-DPMNE."

"SDSM claims they are fighting for their home, as their campaign slogan says, but it is hard to tell what home they are talking about. The one in Chalkidiki or the one in Dubai?" Mickoski asked.

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, their strong desire for power."

"The second thing is their great hatred toward VMRO-DPMNE," he said. "Those are the two things that have brought together this coalition of SDSM, DUI and Levica as our opponents in these political local elections."

"They had seven years of opportunities to fight for their home, called our homeland Macedonia," he said, blaming the previous government of "robbing, betraying and humiliating the Macedonian people, the citizens of Macedonia, and Macedonia as a state."

"What home are they thinking of? Are they thinking of that villa, maybe, on the Aegean coast, in Chalkidiki? Are they thinking of the hacienda in Dubai? Or are they thinking of those expensive speedboats we saw them enjoying last summer, in their luxurious element?"

"The citizens are confused," Mickoski said.

VMRO-DPMNE's president also said DUI and their leader Ali Ahmeti had greatly contributed to emigration.

"He had more than two decades of opportunities to do something for citizens, but also for the Albanian people who vote for him and his political party most often," he said.

"And what did he do in return? He saw with his own eyes villages getting emptier. Now the cities are getting empty. More than 100,000 of his citizens have moved out. His haciendas in Zajas are useless, his castles in Zajas are useless. Because his neighbors are gone," Mickoski said. mr/