Strumica, 20 April 2024 (MIA) — Coalitions are built based on shared values and principles, so if you believe in, for example, Levica's values, you will form a coalition with them. Ours is a coalition of over 15 parties that has lasted for years and it is based on shared values and principles. You know what they say – you are who you hang out with. They do want to hang out with such people. What I am surprised by is the timing of the announcement: You start a campaign, and then, in the middle of it, you ask for help.

I'd say this is a clear sign that things are not going well for VMRO-DPMNE and their leader. According to some, as early as a year ago they had assigned the government posts, calling themselves the winners, so asking for help now in the middle of a campaign is somewhat unusual. They were planning a huge victory. I think they had already agreed on the music and celebration venue, President Stevo Pendarovski told a reelection rally on Saturday evening, MIA's Strumica correspondent reports.

President Pendarovski also recalled the Parliament storming of April 27, 2017, saying the SDSM-led coalition would never even think of entering Parliament and killing fellow MPs. Yet, he said, even after so many years, instead of apologizing, VMRO-DPMNE was announcing amnesty for those people.

He called on voters to continue on the European path together. "Let's move forward. Our security is guaranteed," he said, adding that joining the EU would provide more funding, skills and knowledge to develop the country.

"Everything else is a return to — recycling of — the regime," he said.

Encouraging a large turnout, Pendarovski called on voters to show that the majority of Macedonian citizens want "a normal Macedonia."

"No one here, neither me nor any other candidate for any post, is promising that in four or five years we will turn Macedonia into Switzerland, Germany or America," he said, adding that developing the country would take time "but it will not be in some distant future." 

"By the end of the term, over the next four years, we can enter the EU and we can double salaries and pensions, triple social taxes, and finally our nation can start enjoying life like other European nations do, instead of being on the margins of the continent and fearing whether the country will turn out well," Pendarovski said. mr/