Skopje, 19 February 2026 (MIA) – There will be no early elections as long as citizens say there is no need for that, says Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.

“I have said that as much as it suits us to have snap elections, we give priority to the state and the citizens. No survey has shown that citizens want early elections. There will be no early elections as long as citizens say there is no need for that. Next year we will get closer to the regular term for elections, meaning that a caretaker government would be elected by the end of December or beginning of January 2028. This means that we are less than two years away from a caretaker government. There won’t be any (early elections). We are a people’s party. Moreover, all messages coming from the international community say that the government is stable and should deliver reforms. We are working day and night, round the clock, things must be done,” PM Mickoski told Kanal 5.

On the proposal for termination of the caretaker government following the next elections, the PM notes that the Council of Europe has said the Government is capable of ensuring all prerequisites for democracy and functional institutions.

“The recent local elections are proof of this. The opposition should not believe me, but the CoE, which ended the post-monitoring process. They say the Government is capable of ensuring all prerequisites for democracy and functional institutions. We were clear in saying before the 2024 elections that we favor the termination of the caretaker government. If they wanted to elect an ethnic Albanian as PM, they could have done it through a legitimate government that gets 61 votes in Parliament,” says Mickoski.

The PM expects the process of Government reshuffling to be completed by June.

“I have my own position but I want to sit down with the coalition partners and discuss. The process should be completed by May or June at the latest,” adds Mickoski.

He does not want to comment on latest turmoil in the Vlen coalition, saying, “the atmosphere among colleagues at Government sessions is excellent”.

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