The West did not want to play with him, so he started playing with the East

By Тео Блажевски On Jul 1, 2016 0

In a pro-NATO coalition at home, in pro-East combinations outside. Photo: Screen shot

On the occasion of signing the Declaration of constructing war neutrality zone in the Balkan countries, authored by the Russian ruling party United Russia, the president of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, Ivan Stoiljkovikj stated:

The fact that the international community completely neglects smaller political parties, and parties of ethnic minorities, simply forced us to search for international partners, and we found them. I know that there are many individuals in Macedonia who would like to be in my shoes, but there, we signed this Declaration.

[Source: MKD – Date, 29 June 2016]

EXPLANATION:

Ivan Stoiljkovikj has been the leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia (DPSM) for 15 years, and for 10 years he has been an MP with the help of two ruling parties – SDSM until 2006, and VMRO-DPMNE from 2006 until 2010. He recently gave an inconsistent statement regarding the signing of a Declaration with the Russian ruling party United Russia, which occurred during its last congress in Moscow.

Stoiljkovikj’s inconsistency is double. The more important one is that in the last 15 years his party has been in two big coalitions, which later became parts of governments and are managed by the two biggest parties in Macedonia, which on the other hand, at least, declare that are wholeheartedly oriented towards integration in NATO.

Namely, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE have written in their strategic documents that they are dedicated to the Euro-Atlantic integrations of the Republic of Macedonia and they want to lead Macedonia in these alliances. When in power, both parties lead proactive policies for NATO membership via their governments.

Hence, if DPSM as a party pledges for war neutrality of Macedonia, and that is a huge strategic and political issue, then it is inconsistent for Stoiljkovikj to be in coalition with the two biggest pro-NATO parties in the country – with SDSM in the past and with VMRO-DPMNE now. And if he is already in coalition, then it is inconsistent to practice opposite strategic policy than the one of the coalition he is in, and it is even more inconsistent from him to give statements that all of this is OK.

The second inconsistency of this intensive course student at the American-German pro-NATO school “George Marshall” arises from the context of Stoiljkovikj’s statement we quoted above. That context can be understood as coming closer to one policy or making huge specific political move because of damaged vanity.

The fact that the international community completely neglects smaller political parties, and parties of ethnic minorities simply forced us to search for international partners, and we found them – Stoiljkovikj says.

This means that due to his dissatisfaction of the fact that he, as a leader of a political party, was not consulted for several important issues from the recent or farther past of Macedonia by the foreign representatives and Western diplomats, Stoiljkovikj decided to search for his partners in the East, and he ultimately became partner with the ruling party of the Russian Federation. In order words, “The West did not want to play with me, so I started playing with the East”, which is a mutated paraphrase of the well-known film reply “The East left us, the West doesn’t want us” (Film: “Happy New ‘49” – Stole Popov).

Finally, there is one more issue to discuss. And that is the honesty of the Russian orientation for war neutrality of the Balkans. The estimation of some Macedonian analysists, but also the Russian spurs and encouragements for the Balkan countries not to join NATO, point out that it is completely legitimate to analyze, discuss and reexamine the issue of the Russian intentions in its geostrategic policy regarding the Balkans.

Sources:

(28.06.2016) MKD – Иван Стоиљковиќ: Кога некој ве игнорира, си барате други меѓународни партнери – [Accessed on 29.06.2016]
(28.06.2016) Vecher – Обединета Русија му гарантира на Стоиљковиќ: Македонија останува суверена и цела – [Accessed on 29.06.2016]
(28.06.2016) NOVA TV – Стоилковиќ потпиша руска иницијатива за воено неутрална Македонија –[Accessed on 29.06.2016]
SDSM – Official web site: Кои сме ние – [Accessed on 29.06.2016]
(2011) VMRO-DPMNE – Манифест за реформи и развој (page 7) – [Accessed on 29.06.2016]
Sputnik – Изјави од Железњак -[Accessed on 29.06.2016]

Assessed by: Teo Blazhevski

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This article was created within the framework of the Project to increase the accountability of the politicians and political parties Truthmeter implemented by Metamorphosis. The article is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for Democracy(NED) and The Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an initiative that supports democracy, good governance, and Euroatlantic integration in Southeastern Europe. The content is the responsibility of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Metamorphosis, National Endowment for Democracy, the Balkan Trust for Democracy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, or its partners.