Skopje, 21 May 2026 (MIA) - In a statement for MIA regarding media reports about an alleged “spy affair” in her Office, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said Thursday that the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure should be respected – both in terms of the presumption of innocence, and in terms of collecting information and potentially launching a criminal procedure.

“Firstly, I don’t want to comment on the term ‘spy affair’. Secondly, when discussing a preliminary investigation, I won’t forget the words of my criminal procedure professor, Nikola Matovski, who said during a preliminary procedure there should be little talk, and lots of work, i.e., information should be collected,” the President stressed.

The President said she does not interpret the procedures of other bodies.

“I respect the separation of powers, but I cannot say that I am not a little confused by the answers to media questions or statements coming from the Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption, in which they describe their communication with the Interior Ministry. No, I am not evading statements. But I think the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure should be respected both in terms of the presumption of innocence, and in terms of collecting information and potentially launching a criminal procedure,” the President stressed.

On Wednesday, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption confirmed it has opened a preliminary investigation over suspicions of espionage in the Office of President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.

Upon receiving a report from the Ministry of Interior's Cybersecurity Department on 18 December 2025 relating to an event on 24 November 2025 and indications of illicit activities of high-level national interest, the Office opened a preliminary investigation on the same day and undertook all measures and activities in its jurisdiction, the Prosecutor's Office said in a press release.

It adds that a request was submitted to the Criminal Court for a search order of a computer system, for the purpose of identifying the content that was unlawfully recorded from an IT system in the President's Office. Orders for data extraction from PCs and laptop computers that had been delivered to the MoI were issued as well.

Photo: MIA