Skopje, 17 November 2021 (MIA) – VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski called on Wednesday for elections to be held as soon as possible. “I urge them to realize they’ve been defeated and schedule elections so that a truly progressive government of the people can come to power. Currently, the opposition has 60 MPs, the ruling coalition 59 and one MP of who we don’t know where he stands,” Mickoski said during a visit to the municipality of Kisela Voda. According to him, VMRO-DPMNE will not block the adoption of the budget in Parliament, but stressed expectations that the majority of MPs will support the party’s amendments. “They’ve degraded Parliament and the job of MP. In contrast, we’ll work only for the people and deliver on promises with the aim of toppling the current criminal government led by SDSM and DUI. VMRO-DPMNE is a state-building party and will act as such. We won’t block the budget, but we’ve submitted over 220 amendments and expect the ruling coalition to accept them,” Mickoski said. EU, he underlined, should deliver on promises and give the country a date for starting talks, without blackmailing it into further concessions. In regard to the dispute with Bulgaria, he noted that every solution within the framework adopted by Parliament is acceptable. “Every solution that’s in line with the resolution backed by all parties in Parliament, will be supported by VMRO-DPMNE. They tried to convince us that we have no unresolved issues with neighbors, but they lied,” VMRO-DPMNE’s leader said. The country, he added, should get a date for starting EU accession negotiations as soon as possible, like at the upcoming summit in December. European politicians, Mickoski stressed, shouldn’t write letters, but act in line with basic European values. “The Macedonian people have been stalled a lot in the past because of these values, so it’s time Europe repays them and stop blackmailing us with additional concessions. VMRO-DPMNE will not stand for this. EU should greenlight the start of talks right now and give our people the credit they deserve,” Miskocki said.