VMRO-DPMNE demands resignation from minister Alagjozovski: Budget for payback and nepotism


VMRO-DPMNE has demanded the resignation of Culture Minister Robert Alagjozovski, claiming that his culture program is scandalous and chaotic and does not reflect the real needs.

“SDSM’s budget for culture turned it into a cake for paying back its debt to its coalition partners. Artists are revolted and angry. Culture has never been degraded so far, and artists have been so downplayed. Shameful and humiliating is for the oldest Macedonian children’s music festival Zlatno Slavejce, which is 48 years old, to receive only 200,000 denars, while 300,000 denars are allocated for only one song. National institutions are neglected at the expense of civil society associations of which the public is hearing for the first time. It is unrealistic and irresponsible for the “Tetovo” hunting association to get a record 900,000 denars for the project “Introducing our values”, while the Macedonian Composers’ Association for the music event Struga Music Autumn, which has a 42-year tradition, has been awarded only 150,000 denars. The so-called colorful revolutionaries receive millions, while the real artists are left with ridiculous means.

Nepotism is one of the key methods by which the funds are shared on the basis of the annual cultural program. The public is shocked by the way the chairman of the music scene commission, Vaso Ristov, has shared money for his faculty and for the projects and events he appears as an organizer or part of the jury. VMRO-DPMNE once again calls for the withdrawal of this scandalous program. Culture is not and should not be a means of settling coalition interests. Robert Alagjozovski must take moral and political responsibility for the chaos he has caused,“ is the reaction of this party.