Skopje, 6 July 2022 (MIA) - A serious incident took place this evening, a classic police setup according to all parameters intended to result in the killing of an innocent citizen or my assassination. All of this should have looked like an inter-ethnic conflict, but it is nothing more that a fight to remain in power, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said late Wednesday. In an extraordinary press conference, he urged the people to stay calm "in these difficult times." "This has nothing to do with inter-ethnic intolerance, it is nothing more than a fight for remaining in power," Mickoski said claiming he has been receiving informal information suggesting he is the target of assassination ordered by the government. "Tonight we saw at least two men with guns who were prepared to do it," he stated. The opposition leader accused the police of not having deployed police officers at the site when a group of dozen men with guns appeared. Asked to comment on information that the suspected attacker is the brother of an Alliance of the Albanians official, Mickoski asked for the incident not to be further "politicized." "Those who have committed a crime should be brought to justice. This man committed a crime by pointing a gun at people," he told the news conference. In an address to the Albanians, Mickoski said that "this fight is a joint fight for a joint future in building a dignified Macedonia." Also, he vowed that the protests "against assimilation, i.e. Bulgarization of the Macedonian people" will continue everyday at 7 pm. Earlier, police said it arrested a man, 40, with initials E.J. after firing a gun in the air while a group of protesters were headed toward the Foreign Ministry. In a press release issued after the news conference, the Interior Ministry denied Mickoski's claims that the police weren't present and didn't react during tonight's incident in Skopje's Old Bazaar. "Police officers were at the site and prevented violence by separating two groups. A man suspected of firing a gun was arrested immediately," said the press release.