Petar Kolev: Not the future of the RSM, but the hatred towards the Bulgarians was leading in the election campaign

“It was expected that the candidate for president of VMRO-DPMNE would have a solid lead in the first round, but such a big difference was not foreseen. Apparently, there is complete mobilization in the opposition. I think VMRO-DPMNE achieved the maximum – about 360 thousand votes.“

This was commented in the Euronews Primetime studio by the journalist and former head of the Civil Democratic Union in the Republic of North Macedonia (CDU) Petar Kolev.

Theoretically, it is possible that the current president and candidate for a second term, Stevo Pendarovski, will reverse the result in the second round, but the difference is quite serious, Kolev pointed out.

A key factor in who will be the next president of the Republic of Macedonia will be the votes of the Albanians.

“The coalition capacity of VMRO-DPMNE and of this presidential candidate is extremely limited. Their position on the termination of talks with Bulgaria and Greece narrows the possible political maneuver, but this does not mean that they cannot understand each other behind the scenes (with the parties from the Albanian bloc – note ed.)“, comments Kolev.

The current president Stevo Pendarovski also did not spare anti-Bulgarianism in the election campaign, the journalist noted.

This election campaign was not dedicated to the future of the Republic of Macedonia, but was filled with dangerous anti-Bulgarianism, with a frank language of hatred towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarians in the Republic of Macedonia.
Petar Kolev, politician from the Republic of North Macedonia

“Skopje dawned with banners that the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution was treason. The ruling party created pre-election videos in which a football player wearing a shirt in the colors of the Bulgarian flag trips the Macedonian player. All the time, a position of aggression and hatred was sought, which has been going on for 100 years”, Kolev pointed out.

In his words, “various tricksters in Bulgaria” are trying to deceive the public that there was a difference between the Macedonian politicians regarding the anti-Bulgarian policy.

"Anti-Bulgarian Macedonianism is a state ideology," emphasized Kolev. According to him, all parties, except for those from the Albanian bloc, have proven their anti-Bulgarianism in the election campaign, which to a large extent is tantamount to anti-European speaking.

“In the next parliamentary elections, VMRO-DPMNE will win, but whether it will be able to form a government and form a parliamentary majority is a matter of increased difficulty. "I deeply doubt that if VMRO-DPMNE continues with this rhetoric and the denial of the agreements with Bulgaria and Greece, it could find allies in the Albanian sector," the journalist predicted.

However, he did not rule out the possibility that, after a possible victory in the parliamentary elections, VMRO-DPMNE will change its position regarding the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution, because, according to him, hypocrisy is not foreign to this party, at least because it bears the name of a Bulgarian revolutionary organization, while at the same time conducting a pro-Serbian and anti-Bulgarian policy in Macedonia.

Kolev also commented on the request of the Albanian parties in the RSM that the president of the country be elected by the parliament, and not through direct voting by the citizens:

“While our misguided brothers along the Vardar are fighting with their roots, with their Bulgarian grandfathers in dreams and in reality, they will dawn with a president who is an ethnic Albanian,”, he declared.