The Social Democratic Union issued a statement tonight in which it reacts to the allegations made in tonight's interview of the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, in the show "360 degrees" on Alsat TV.

Here is the full statement from SDSM:

"Hristijan Mickoski is the last one who can talk about legitimacy, he draws his from Budapest, where he gets all the approvals and orders for his work. VMRO-DPMNE is the only party with a leader convicted of a crime living in another country, and the party has an acting director. Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski and the current government have full capacity, legitimacy and an expanded majority.

Hence, instead of constantly burdening the public with demanding elections, Mickoski should try to once again rise above the party interests and orders from Budapest and stand in the interest of the citizens. To support projects and reforms in the interest of the citizens and to show statehood if at any time in the future he wants to gain the trust of the citizens.

The destructiveness of VMRO-DPMNE exceeds all limits, and the desire for elections at the expense of the citizens is disgusting. Hristijan Mickoski wants to cover the incompetence of the mayors of VMRO-DPMNE with constant demands for early elections. In a period of energy and economic crisis, in a situation where the parliamentary majority is stable and the Government has full legitimacy, work is needed to overcome the consequences of the crisis, not early elections and new blockages, new blockades.

But that is the attitude of Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE towards the citizens and the state. They do not offer any solutions, they do not propose anything, they have no position on anything, but that is why they are constantly looking for elections, they are just blocking something, and their mayors are doing nothing but partisanize the elections.

That is why Mickoski tried to seek excuses tonight, that is why he is in a hurry for elections, because he knows that the citizens see how incompetent and unsuccessful his mayors are, but there will be no early parliamentary elections. "The next elections will be in the regular term, in 2024," reads the statement of SDSM.