Skopje, 12 February 2026 (MIA) — SDSM leader Venko Filipche said Thursday in a TV appearance on Kanal 5 that the party had consolidated and was already creating a new platform, which they would present by mid-June.

Asked why he declined Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski's invitation to attend a leadership meeting, Filipche said SDSM "is still a constructive but not controlled opposition."

"Democracy must not be undermined and abused," he said. 

"We are here for a dialogue on strategic directions and topics. One of the most serious issues is the minimum wage," he said, adding that SDSM had submitted a proposal to Parliament and reiterated that the national budget could be revised to make it posible to raise the minimum wage.

Regarding VMRO-DPMNE's claims that SDSM was colluding with unionized workers, he said he had met SSM Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia president Slobodan Trendafilov only once, a year and a half ago, and they had "no communication or coordination." mr/