Balgarianovinite.com The leader of the opposition SDSM party in the Republic of North Macedonia, Venko Filipce, stated from the podium of the party’s 31st congress on Saturday that North Macedonia is in diplomatic isolation with its European path blocked, while the VMRO-DPMNE government has no plan to address this. Filipce called the country’s Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski “a tourist in Davos playing the role of a world leader” against the backdrop of the country never having been more isolated.
Filipce continued: “While the country is falling apart at the seams, Mickoski has been engaging in expensive tourism, paid for with public money. [North] Macedonia is in diplomatic isolation. The European path is blocked, and they have no plan. Europe has written us off, and America is not taking us in. Instead of being in the US perimeter, with Mickoski we found ourselves outside the circle called Europe. Such diplomatic madness and confusion are unjustified. This is a betrayal of national interests. Such betrayal will be remembered by many future generations.”
The leader of the SDSM accused the ruling VMRO-DPMNE of trying to turn the country into a “quarantine zone, a buffer zone for foreign problems, just to get a pat on the back and a EUR 6 billion loan”. He was adamant that his party would not allow such a development.
In his remarks, Filipce said: “Do you remember what Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE said when SDSM was in power? We were subordinate to Europe. He would restore our pride. And what did we get? We got a government that was completely subordinate, blackmailed, and bought with money and projects from [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic and [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban. They brought the country to the bottom of the Balkans with a Prime Minister who has no right to sign any decision without the approval of his bosses.”
In the closed part of the SDSM congress, which is currently taking place, the Social Democrats are analyzing the results of the local elections held in October 2025. The delegates’ agenda also includes the election of a deputy party chair, after the entire party leadership resigned at Filipce’s request.
Filipce said he expects the congress to proceed smoothly, even though days before the forum, two prominent SDSM representatives accused him of causing the congress to fail due to a lack of quorum.
Following Filipce’s speech on Saturday, the ruling party issued a statement that reads: “In his empty speech to the congress, Filipce did not explain why the party came fifth [in the local elections] in Skopje and third in [North] Macedonia. He did not distance himself from or say a bad word about his mentor [the former prime minister of the country from the SDSM] Zoran Zaev, […] did not explain why the SDSM provided services to Bulgaria and Greece, imposed the French proposal [an agreement between Bulgaria and North Macedonia presented by the French EU Presidency in 2022 as a way to reconcile long-running disputes over language, history and minority rights in order to start North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations], concluded a harmful agreement with Bulgaria, did not explain why they are attacking the US, waging a political war with the UK.” SDSM Leader Slams VMRO-DPMNE Government for Placing North Macedonia in Diplomatic Isolation 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-01-24 16:07:05 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law