History and time will tell who stands behind all of this preventing Macedonia from getting what it deserves. I don’t want to put the blame on anyone and I don’t want to point the finger at anyone. As I said in my address, there are some people who do not want Macedonia to succeed, someone is helping those who don’t want Macedonia to be successful, President Gjorge Ivanov said in a joint interview with the chief editors of several Macedonian TV stations.
These perpetual crises, he noted, are the consequence of us being frustrated for not moving forward. “Someone has put lead in our feet in order not to spread our wings and fly, to be a country that can generate economic results, attract foreign investments, improve living standards and enable prosperity in the midst of the biggest economic crisis,” said Ivanov.
Asked about last night’s incident in which one of the President’s offices in downtown Skopje was ransacked, he said it wasn’t his personal office, it served as the people’s office.
“Thousands of people have received financial support through this office, thousands of young people are being promoted because of this office. I don’t want to meddle in the affairs of the judiciary, however these people should not be tried, but they need to pay for the damage they had caused,” noted Ivanov.
According to him, it is easy to seduce a mob, but it is difficult to control it.
In the interview, Ivanov said he had been informed by foreign and domestic intelligence services about a ‘real threat’ to two party leaders. “Even though I cannot go any deeper, the threats are a fact. It’s the 21st century, we should be ‘killing’ each other with ideas, concepts, vision, etc,” Ivanov said refusing to give out any names. “The services know the names.”
The country, he stressed, has the support of all the countries who mean Macedonia well, according to him.
Ahead of elections, the Macedonian President noted, an environment free of pressure and intimidation must be created. “The elections have to be highly assessed in a bid the state to return to its normal course,” he concluded saying he had acted in the interest of the country and for the future of Macedonia.
In his interview, President Ivanov called for ‘national reconciliation’. “I urged all parties and all good-intentioned people to give a hand in the reconciliation process. I will accept any kind of initiative to kick off a process of reconciliation, firstly among Macedonians, then between Macedonians and Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Roma, etc. We have no other alternative but to live together,” Ivanov said stating that multinational and multi-religious coexistence was Macedonia’s ‘fortune’.