1 The Italian national press agency ANSA published that an employee at a public hospital in Catanzaro, southern Italy, didn’t turn up to work for 15 years, but was paid a monthly salary. He was accused of forgery, aggravated extortion and abuse of office, and was paid 538,000 euros for the period he was skipping work. Six other managers at the hospital are under investigation.

The news is local, but my fellow journalists found it bizarre enough to take it, so it was published by a dozen other relevant world press agencies and media.

Here, 1,349 people didn’t go to work and received salaries for over 10 years, and these guys got upset over just one man in Italy and over just half a million euros. They even went so far as to start an investigation. Let them come here, they’d be able to write not one but thousands of news in a row. For 10 years, no one even looked for them at work, for 3 years, the previous minister Damjan Manchevski begged them to turn up at work and he eventually gave up on them and on politics, we opened them a brand new Ministry of Moving-People-In, we made up a deputy prime minister for them – first of his kind, and now – the director of the State Market Inspectorate Stojko Paunovski is in the wrong because he didn’t know where to allocate the 35 people sent to him by Artan Grubi. All of them want to work in the towns where Stojko doesn’t need them, on top of that they don’t want to work in the field, and want to sit in an office instead. And Stojko says that they don’t have any offices and that he doesn’t want to hire them so they could just stay at home again. Surely the director of one of the most hard-pressed state institutions in the Covid crisis knows which people he needs and where he needs them. And now, it’s his fault that he doesn’t want them to get paid for not working. Why? Because the party that sent him the lists for employment fought for human rights.

What about the human rights of all those who pay their taxes to provide the salaries for the human rights fighters? Over Stojko’s dead body?

2 It’s not about Stojko. It’s about our great expectations of this Government. And – in proportion to the expectations – great disappointments. So far, we’ve been like – let them be, they’re making dumb mistakes, but we’ll let it slide because they’re doing great things as well. We were supposed to join NATO, to start the EU accession talks, to dismantle VMRO-DPMNE’s machinery in all state institutions, to restore the country’s international reputation, to strengthen the country’s security.

But, here you go, as the local elections approach and the debate over urban policies intensifies, you realize that the disappointment is twofold. First, because on a local level SDSM didn’t change VMRO-DPMNE’s policies, and although they promised they’d change them, they continued trying to pull off the same boorish tricks. And second, if SDSM is punished and VMRO-DPMNE comes into power, it will be the same as it was four years ago. If SDSM failed to change the urban plans, although they were determined to do it, why would they be changed by the one who passed those plans? So – there’s no escaping an urban chaos.

And then they’ll blame the citizens for not going to the polls, or for casting an invalid vote. Some are tired of the Government Stojkoing around and have given up on everything because the Government doesn’t understand what they want. As for the Government, they don’t listen to the ones who kindly point things out, and will even get into an argument with them. Finally, they’ll accuse the ones who didn’t vote of being irresponsible. And why would people be responsible, when the Government are irresponsible? On top of being irresponsible, they’re even pretending to be powerless.

3 The Macedonian-Bulgarian historical commission is still stuck on the Middle Ages. The European future of Macedonia is stuck in Bulgaria.  The European Union is stuck on Macedonia. I mean, the European Union is stuck in general, but they use Macedonia as a nice excuse.

When we signed the Framework Agreement in 2001, the EU promised an accelerated integration.

Then, in 2005, for the first time in Macedonia’s case, being granted a candidate status didn’t mean opening the accession talks.

In 2009, the recommendation of the European Commission to open the accession talks wasn’t accepted for the first time.

In June 2018 they said we’d start the accession talks in June 2019.

In June 2019 they said we’d start the accession talks in October 2019.

In October 2019 they said we’d start the accession talks in March 2020.

In March 2020 they said it would be November 2020.

In November 2020 came Bulgaria’s veto.

And what came to pass on our way to the EU? The Russian Embassy in Skopje reminded us with a twit that:”80 years ago, on 18 April 1941, Bulgaria, then an ally of fascist Germany, invaded Macedonia. Two months later the Nazis invaded the USSR. Eternal glory to the Russians, the Macedonians and other brave soldiers who fought against the Nazi plague. #Death to fascism.”

So much for EU’s selfishness. First, they used to please Macron so the domestic nationalists would like him better. Then, they continued to please Borisov and Karakachanov so they would be liked by the nationalists. And now, they’re wondering how Russia entered their home?

Truth be told, it entered our home as well. But only in the army, the police force, the judiciary, the prosecutors, the journalists and the Assembly. And by what means – just through a needle.

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski