North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and opposition leader Venko Filipce engaged in a heated exchange on Wednesday after Serbia’s parliamentary elections, with each accusing the other of corruption and foreign influence. The duel appeared to mirror broader regional tensions that have long affected Balkan politics.
Mickoski, also the head of the ruling VMRO‑DPMNE party, was among the first to publicly congratulate Ilija Srdanovic and the Student Movement that captured Serbia’s parliament on Oct. 25. He stated that North Macedonia and Serbia should continue to deepen economic cooperation as good neighbours.
The election on Oct. 25 saw the Student Movement win, prompting Mickoski’s congratulatory message to Srdanovic and a call for continued partnership between the two countries.
Filipce, the leader of the opposition SDSM party, castigated the Skopje administration as being tied to Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party and accused it of corruption in the energy sector and drug trafficking. His accusations suggested that the North Macedonian government had been linked to Vucic’s structures.
Filipce said:
Some people say we are celebrating foreign elections. No, we are celebrating the arrival of the wave of democracy here in the region, because these business, political, and media ties with Aleksandar Vucic and, until recently, with Viktor Orban are the ties that fuel, and have fueled, our regime. They keep us captive, in a media blackout, and under a highly corrupt regime.
Mickoski replied that he was accustomed to “insults, fabrications, and lies” hurled by the opposition, adding that he had received instructions from Vucic in the past, a claim reported only by BTA.
VMRO‑DPMNE issued a statement accusing opposition figures of celebrating Vucic’s defeat as though they had won the election, arguing that Skopje had historically honoured Vucic as a friend.
The confrontation highlights the enduring friction between Serbian and North Macedonian political elites, with implications for regional stability and bilateral cooperation.
