1 Let’s grab some popcorn, crack open a beer, and sit back.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have started airing their dirty laundry, just like our very own Danela Arsovska, Vredi and DUI. After the Mayor of Skopje accused the Mayor of Chair, Visar Ganiy from Vredi, of using forged documents to legalise 150 illegal buildings, they fired back by accusing her of turning a blind eye to the illegal buildings in the Municipality of Saraj, where DUI MP Blerim Bexheti, the former mayor, is from.
Let’s enjoy the competition. The contestants aren’t trying to prove who followed the law, who built illegally, or who legalised illegal buildings, but who broke the law more often.
And the term says it all – illegal buildings. Completely off the books. No permits. Built without regard for the urban plan. No safety standards. They put people’s lives at risk. They endanger the environment. Some are built in national parks and protected areas. On stolen state land. And despite all those violations, no one’s punished.
Zuheir Rexhepi, Director of the State Inspectorate for Urbanism and Construction, made a statement for the newspaper Lajm that the Municipality of Chair ranks 19th at the national level, with 3,158 illegal buildings, while within the City of Skopje, it comes 6th out of 10 municipalities.
Brilliant. You knock the sixth criminal off the list and then he does the same to the five who are more successful than him. And on top of that, you throw in an ethnic twist in the form of statistics into the contest. Why are you picking only on the municipalities run by Albanian parties?
In this criminal ranking contest, we don’t root for the good or the bad. We choose between two evils. Are we in favour of the lesser or the greater evil?
2 According to data of the State Statistical Office, GDP growth in the first quarter of this year stands at 3.2 percent. The government claims that Macedonia is the fourth fastest-growing economy in Europe. The one ahead of us are Ireland, Denmark and Poland.
Since VMRO-DPMNE came to power, every day has been historic for us. The announcements on the government’s web site are brimming with history. We’ve signed a historic strategic agreement with the UK that will bring the largest debt in our history. We have the historically best plan for youth employment. The historically highest payment of subsidies to tobacco farmers. Historic progress in resolving the issue of stateless people. The historically highest government investment in municipalities, funded by the Hungarian loan. A historic agreement with health unions. Historic growth in foreign investments. The highest price in history for tobacco and rice hulls.
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikolovski says that “the start of construction on the motorway section from Gostivar to Bukojchani and Kichevo is a historic day for Macedonia.” Minister of Defence Vlado Misajlovski speaks of “the historically lowest record level of corruption so far.” Minister of Finance Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska mentions “the historically lowest interest rate.” Speaking about the Belanoca-Baroni clan and Rade Shtekli’s group, Minister of Internal Affairs Panche Toshkovski says “they are just some of the many cases yielding historic results.” Minister of Culture Zoran Ljutkov issued a statement that his visit to Osaka was historic as he signed a Memorandum of Cultural Cooperation with Japan. Minister of Sports Borko Ristovski says that “it’s a historic moment for Macedonian sport because Macedonia will, for the first time, have representatives at the legendary ’24 Hours of Le Mans’.”
Everything’s historic these days, so even the Macedonian National Theatre, which has won numerous awards at international theatre festivals in the past, had a historic day when it received an award at Sterijino Pozorje in Serbia. Let’s not forget the Municipalities celebrating their birthdays are advertising the concerts as the biggest parties in history. Even private businesses, caught up in the historic euphoria, have started advertising services and products with the historically highest discounts.
When it comes to VMRO-DPMNE, everything has to be either the biggest or historical. It’s go big or go home.
3 Truth be told, Kochani saw the most historic tragedy of all. In a fire at a makeshift nightclub, 62 young people died and over 200 were injured. But even such a national earthquake on that scale didn’t lead to historic efficiency in rooting out the corruption that caused the tragedy. And we’re not talking about how many people were suspected, arrested, or charged or about the historic trial that will no doubt follow. We’re talking about the fact that such a historic tragedy must trigger a historic shift in the way we obey the law. And that shift is nowhere to be seen.
Then again, in a country where the public has a short memory, it’s only natural for every new day to be historic.
4 For as long as I can remember, since I was a child, I’ve been hearing stories about the Markova Noga border crossing in Prespa, which has been closed for 58 years. Throughout my career as a journalist, for more than 30 years, the topic of Markova Noga has come up regularly. Countless articles have been written. Every time a minister of foreign affairs took office, he’d bring up the topic of Markova Noga. Greece, too, mentioned the crossing from time to time, but very cautiously, until the signing of the Prespa Agreement, when it began to be discussed more openly and frequently on their side of the border as well. Simply put, Markova Noga has become something of a modern myth.
That’s why I was, in a way, pleased to hear the news that construction of the crossing had begun on the Greek side. Funded by the European Union, the Markova Noga – Lemos crossing is set to reopen by the summer of 2026.
With all the disappointments and frustrations that Macedonian citizens have endured, there hasn’t been much to celebrate in these 34 years on our path to the EU. I think, if the EU doesn’t screw us over this time, maybe the myth will finally become reality. At long last. And that would truly be a historic day.
Just imagine hearing the horn of the train running from Bitola to Lerin again. Now that would be something.
5 Apparently, not everything during the SDSM era was so bad and catastrophic. The government adopted a good practice aimed at strengthening democracy by expanding access to information and organising debates with its own officials, such as the sessions previously led by Marjan Zabrchanec, the then communications coordinator in Zoran Zaev’s government. Ministers, directors, and other elected government officials have a sit down in the government building and answer questions posed by the government itself.
The last debate was on the topic “Kochani is our priority.” What a sight, the participants were three directors, Sasho Klekovski from the Health Fund, Ivica Tomovski from the Government’s General and Common Affairs Service, and Sait Saiti from the Red Cross, answering the “tricky” questions posed by the strict spokesperson Marija Miteva. Proper cringe-worthy stuff.
Why are they putting the spokesperson through this? Instead of doing her actual job, answering questions, she ended up asking them herself, as if she’s a journalist.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
