Skopje, 18 November 2025 (MIA) - Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday he believes that the trial over the fire at the “Pulse” nightclub in Kochani must take place without political influence, warning however that there are certain political parties trying to take advantage of the pain of those who lost their loved ones.   

"Personally, I believe it has to be that way, it can't be any other way. Yet, there are certain political parties here that, unfortunately, in this case, are trying to build a political career on the pain of the people who have lost their loved ones, and therefore we cannot say that there is no political influence because those politicians and those political parties are trying to take advantage of the pain," Mickoski told Telma TV's "Top Tema" show. 

The PM added that they were sending political messages all the time, whereas, he noted, unlike them, he kept silent all the time allowing the prosecution and the courts to do their jobs.

"Let's have a fair trial. Let's have a trial that will clearly detect who is guilty, and who is not guilty, etc.," said Mickoski. 

He noted that he supports the decision of the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group and the coalition for a committee of inquiry into all the tragedies that have happened in the country in recent years. Mickoski pointed out that absolutely all the culprits should be brought to justice. 

"I have been listening very carefully to the public debate in recent days. Cacophonous messages are coming from the opposition. On the one hand, the SDSM leader accuses that the judiciary and the prosecution are under political pressure from the government that I lead, and now that the case is there in the prosecution and starts in court, he says no, let's take the debate to Parliament. They are not doing this to see the matter through to the end, because they have neither the tools nor the credibility. They are doing this exclusively for politicization and that is the lowest form of politics, the necrophilic politics that he and other smaller political parties are leading," Mickoski said.    

If we say judges are independent, said the PM, it is logical that this case should be in court. Mickoski pointed to "the hypocrisy of the opposition", noting that it has been saying the country has quality prosecutors and judges while demanding an inquiry committee because it doesn't trust the prosecutors and judges. 

Photo: print screen