Shtip, 23 September 2025 (MIA) - The citizens should know that the essential reform that is being demanded for the judges and prosecutors is about increasing their budget. I have doubts whether they even deserve their current wages, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Tuesday.

“I want the citizens to know that all those so-called experts when they show up and criticize the Government about a standstill on reforms in the prosecution and the judiciary, this is the essential reform – how to increase the budget of the courts to 0.8 percent of GDP, and to 0.5 percent of GDP for the prosecutors which is two or three times more than some member states of the European Union. It is not an issue, we will increase it three times, but they should deserve it. I doubt whether they even deserve their current wages,” the Prime Minister said.

Asked to comment on the suspended sentence for a doctor in the Oncology case, Mickoski said he has voiced his position on the judiciary on multiple occasions, reiterating that “laws are being demanded with which in essence what’s being demanded is an increase to the budget of the courts and prosecution”.

“I want the public to know that this is about six laws whose core purpose is increasing the budget which would directly imply an increase to the wages of the prosecutors and judges who currently have an approval rating of 2 percent. The proposed budget increase would bring their share to 0.8 percent of GDP for judges and 0.5 percent for prosecutors. I always feel a certain discomfort because, considering the kind of court decisions you're now talking about, they don't deserve even the wages they currently receive,” Mickoski told journalists in Shtip.

MIA file photo