Mickoski calls for urgent meeting with Ivanov and Zaev

VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski is calling for ‘urgent and extraordinary’ meeting with President Gjorge Ivanov and PM Zoran Zaev to go through the provisions of the deal reached by Macedonia and Greece on the name Republic of North Macedonia to be used both internationally and bilaterally.

Having already submitted a request for a meeting with the head of state, Mickoski said he still hadn’t received an invitation from Ivanov. “However, by the end of the day I expect to meet with both Ivanov and Zaev,” he told a news conference on Wednesday.

The opposition leader called the agreement reached yesterday ‘a defeat of the Macedonian diplomacy’ and demanded that Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov should resign from the post.

VMRO-DPMNE, he said, won’t back changing of the Constitution allowing the constitutional name to be changed and the party will use all legal means necessary at a disposal against the agreement.

Mickoski fell short of revealing what kind of measures could be taken adding that the citizens would be informed about the party’s intentions on time.

Asked to comment on the fact that the deal had been praised by all key international actors and whether VMRO-DPMNE had changed its stance championing EU and NATO integration, Mickoski said the international community had been advocating for a deal to be reached without delving into the content of the document.

“The reaction of the international community is logical, but it is the people of Macedonia who will live with the consequences of Zoran Zaev’s capitulation move,” he stated.

In comments to the media, Mickoski denied that VMRO-DPMNE was under the influence of Russia.

Speaking to reporters, he also said he had never met or communicated in any way with the leader of the Greek opposition, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.