Skopje, 6 April 2024 (MIA) – At a rally in Kichevo on Saturday evening, SDSM-endorsed presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski highlighted the importance of coexistence. He said he never divided people and treated everyone the same during the five years of his presidency.

“That’s the only way you can call yourself a president of all citizens. The role of the president is to unite. Division is the greatest threat. We are not a lot of people, and if we attack each other we won’t progress,” Pendarovski said.

Speaking about his term as president, Pendarovski said it happened during a difficult period, but good things still happened to the country, “such as NATO membership thanks to the political structure I am a part of and which finally decided to solve that issue even at the cost of its rating or popularity,” as a result, he said, “Macedonia is today an equal member of NATO, among the most powerful and most democratic states.”

“Our path can only be Euro-Atlantic, the United States and Western Europe. These are the examples that we must follow and look up to. Everything else is just an attempt to fool the people and to return to a completely uncertain future,” Pendarovski said.

The main opposition party, he said, opposes the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Prespa Agreement, “and if they could do so today, they would amend or annul the Ohrid Framework Agreement and amend the Prespa Agreement.” He urged the citizens to come out in great numbers and reject such efforts.

Regarding domestic policy, Pendarovski said the fight against crime and corruption would be his top priority in the next term as well. He stressed that he had worked towards ensuring the rule of law, fought against corruption and crime, and succeeded, because, he said, he has no criminal affairs behind him.

“This will continue to be the case. Everyone who is involved in crime, even if they are my best friends or closest relatives, will be publicly shunned, I will publicly distance myself from them and ask the relevant authorities to process their crimes… We must be loud and tell such people to step aside and not to occupy the places of the capable, of young people and of honest people,” Pendarovski said.

In response to criticism from the main opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, that he has been left alone to address his rallies, he invited the audience on the stage, stating “I am always with my people.”

Before the rally in Kichevo, on Saturday, Pendarovski met with the citizens of Makedonski Brod.

Photo: Printscreen