{"id":137980,"date":"2026-02-13T18:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goranmihajlovski.com\/?p=137980"},"modified":"2026-02-15T21:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T20:42:27","slug":"fear-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goranmihajlovski.com\/en\/i-want-to-say\/fear-us\/","title":{"rendered":"FEAR US"},"content":{"rendered":"

1<\/span> If the government is prepared to illegally film a union leader with his children, and even release that footage to the public, where does that leave everyone else? How far would the government go in a confrontation with a political opponent stronger than an ordinary union leader?<\/p>\n

The issue of union demands is eternal. As long as capitalism has existed, so too have demands for higher salaries and workers\u2019 rights. Every previous government has clashed with unions and accused them of acting as an extension of the opposition. Shocking, truly. A union dared to demand a higher minimum salary. That demand destabilised the country to such an extent that the government felt justified in following a union leader while he was driving his children around.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski may assess union leader Slobodan Trendafilov\u2019s mental state all he likes, claiming he had \u201cbloodshot pupils and whites of his eyes.\u201d He may even demand an apology from him, because MP Dafina Stojanoska is \u201ca woman, a mother and a wife\u201d roles that Trendafilov was expected to consider before reporting her to the police for unauthorised filming. Meanwhile, Stojanoska\u2019s female colleagues accused Trendafilov of exerting \u201cbrutal pressure on women in politics.\u201d Naturally, filming \u201ca man, a father and a husband with his children\u201d isn\u2019t brutal pressure.<\/p>\n

We know that VMRO-DPMNE are masters at twisting a story. But the fact is that we saw a recording made in secret, and the recording was published by an MP from the ruling party. The MPs of that party even praised her for this criminal act, applauding her \u201cthe courage to publicly expose the wastefulness of the union leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truth be told, it does take courage to publicly admit you recorded someone without authorisation. From a position of power, mind you.<\/p>\n

From the position of an MP, who collects thousands of euros a year from the state budget in travel expenses, it takes not only courage but considerable cheek to moralise about the wastefulness of the union leader who used the Union\u2019s official vehicle privately and is now being asked how many litres of petrol he consumed. That may well be a legitimate question for the Union, but not for the state. Dafina herself, the bravest among them, collected 255,000 denars in travel expenses in 2025 because, when travelling from Gostivar, she doesn\u2019t sleep in one of her mother\u2019s four apartments in Skopje. And let\u2019s not forget \u2013 this whole thing started with the topic: raising the minimum salary for workers. The very workers who fund MPs\u2019 salaries. Along with travel expenses.<\/p>\n

Imagine if someone from VMRO-DPMNE were recorded like this without authorisation and the footage played back to them like this. What a drama that would be. At the beginning of this government\u2019s term, in July 2024, when a photograph emerged of the prime minister with his son at the NATO Summit in Washington, and he was asked the logical question of whether his son had travelled at state expense, he angrily replied: \u201cStay away from my children.\u201d Apparently, however, it\u2019s acceptable to follow and film other people\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had unauthorised recordings before. But now, for the first time, the government \u2013 MPs and the prime minister alike \u2013 is publicly boasting about it. Plus, some may remember, some may have forgotten, but this is the same party under whose term ten years ago, 26,000 citizens were illegally wiretapped. I was one of them. I was wiretapped for two and a half years.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the message in the bigger picture? Fear us.<\/p>\n

2<\/span> The world is changing dramatically. There\u2019s already widespread talk that Ukraine\u2019s membership of the European Union could be bundled as a condition for ending the war.<\/p>\n

Where are we in this story?<\/p>\n

I have the feeling that the government is wasting our time when the main headline in the country is that the prime minister has inspected the construction of three additional rooms in a kindergarten. Not even a mayor is required to visit those construction sites, let alone the prime minister, ministers, MPs and presidents of municipal councils. What\u2019s the next historic achievement? Newly installed taps in school toilets?<\/p>\n

What goes through their minds when they pose for photographs at construction sites? That we don\u2019t deserve kindergartens, schools and streets? That we haven\u2019t paid taxes and utilities for them? That they\u2019re treating us with something paid of their own pockets? How come they don\u2019t pose for photographs when they sell off state land and issue building permits that turn individual houses into entire apartment blocks? Or when they legalise illegal constructions? Of course they have to build schools, kindergartens and streets, they\u2019ve overpopulated the municipalities. We\u2019ve paid utilities precisely so that infrastructure can be built. That\u2019s their job.<\/p>\n

If only some of those buildings were novel, an architectural achievement, an innovation, something that might justify the photo opportunity.<\/p>\n

The world has turned upside down, and we\u2019re bragging about extensions.<\/p>\n

3<\/span> The entire situation with the marijuana, seized from warehouses of legal marijuana producers, is designed to create the impression that something is being done. The government has decided to conduct extraordinary inspections of legal marijuana producers. Apparently, routine inspections allowed five tonnes to slip across the border into Serbia.<\/p>\n

Half their term will pass under the propaganda slogan: Let Zaev expain, let Filipche explain!<\/p>\n

Zoran Zaev hasn\u2019t been prime minister since December 2021. And VMRO-DPMNE and VREDI have been in power since June 2024. It\u2019s now February 2026.<\/p>\n

In VMRO-DPMNE, the only thing they do every day is gossip about the opposition.<\/p>\n

Unlike SDSM, where they gossip about one another. Among the few people left there, they selected a man who publicly admitted to snorting cocaine at work in a public institution to represent them on the issue of marijuana.<\/p>\n

SDSM leader Venko Filipche is a neurosurgeon. That doesn\u2019t entitle SDSM to treat us as if we\u2019ve all undergone brain surgery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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