The contradictions of the pro-Russian candidate for mayor of Skopje, Zoran Jovanovski

Jovanovski presents himself as a “Vmrovec” [someone affiliated with the VMRO-DPMNE political party], yet he hosts Greater Serbian Chetniks on his podcast, after which he laments the partisan Tito, as well as his opponents Chento and the USSR, while attempting to reconcile antiquization with Pan-Slavism, and Orthodoxy and right-wing ideology with communism. All these contradictions are reflected in the positions of this supposedly independent candidate in the local elections, who is in fact backed by the United Macedonia party and maintains close ties to the Russian embassy

 

Author: Vangel Bashevski

 

Several candidates who emphasized their pro-Russian orientation participated in the local elections on 19.10.2025, even though a local politician should deal with local, not global problems. One who stands out is Zoran Jovanovski, not so much for his program, nor for the number of votes he received (a total of 404), but for his contradictory positions, which at times border on absurdity.

 

The “Vmrovec” Jovanovski promotes Greater Serbian Chetniks

Jovanovski presents himself as a “Vmrovec,” i.e. as a member of the VMRO-DPMNE party, which claims to be the successor to the historical VMRO. How true that claim is is debatable, but, in any case, that “Vmrovstvo” [the political culture and ideological legacy associated with VMRO] implies efforts for Macedonian independence, yet Jovanovski hosted the Greater Serbian Chetnik Bratislav Živković in his podcast.

 

It was not a debate or a clash of opinions. Jovanovski conducted the interview kindly and without awkward questions, and began it with a greeting used by Serbian Chetniks (Pomoz Bog!”) [God helps], after which the guest addressed him in a friendly manner as “comrade.”

Živković later died as a pro-Russian volunteer in the war against Ukraine, which tells us that he was not only a propagandist, but he also fought for his ideas with a rifle in his hand, even in Bosnia in the 1990s, so if the Yugoslav wars had included the then Republic of Macedonia, it is logical to assume that he would have fought against it as well.

In the podcast, he spoke freely and proudly about how in 1903 the Chetnik movement was founded for the “liberation of Southern Serbia,” i.e. for the Serbian annexation of Vardar Macedonia. The Serbian Chetnik movement fought against VMRO and recruited local helpers like Micko Krstevski, who even held Dame Gruev, one of the founders of VMRO, hostage for a month.

Here we would also recall the VMRO from the time of Ivan Mihajlov, when his executioner Vlado Chernozemski, with the support of the Croatian Ustashi, killed the Serbian and Yugoslav king Aleksandar Karađorđević.

Of course, our goal is not to spread hatred, but simply to point out that VMRO and the Serbian Chetniks were enemies and that Jovanovski is inconsistent in his “VMRO” determination.

Independent candidate and alleged expert on Russian-Ukrainian relations

Jovanovski presents himself as an expert on Russian-Ukrainian relations, but in our article “Manipulations around Zelensky and Ukraine, its demography and history,” we argued that Jovanovski lacks even basic knowledge of Ukraine or Russia.

His “expertise” amounts to parroting the Kremlin’s propaganda narratives, and we have not found a relevant and credible source confirming that Jovanovski is an expert.

It is not mentioned even by United Macedonia, the pro-Russian party which backed him in the elections and which simply described him as a law graduate. The party of which he is a member, VMRO-DPMNE, did not back him, even though he claims that the “vast majority” in it is pro-Russian.

Jovanovski says he is an independent candidate, only formally supported by a political party, but given his closeness to the Russian embassy, ​​whose manipulations we have dealt with many times, that independence is under serious question.

 

Tito and the USSR, leftists and rightists

Josip Broz-Tito persecuted supporters of an independent Macedonia, but, ironically, Jovanovski spreads Yugo-nostalgia, and during a guest appearance by diplomat Risto Nikovski on his podcast, they even posed together with a picture of Tito.

This does not go hand in hand with the already mentioned Serbian Chetniks, against whom Tito fought. At the same time, one of the targets of his repressions was Metodija Andonov-Chento, to whom Jovanovski also dedicates posts.

Jovanovski also laments the USSR, with which Tito clashed in 1948, after which sympathizers of the USSR ended up in prison on Goli Otok. Jovanovski ignores this. In his lamenting, leftist tendencies can be observed (for example, he congratulates his readers on Labor Day), but in other posts, he happily notes that the political right is on the rise across Europe, so go figure.

Pro-Russian Vmrovec

Jovanovski manages the Facebook group “Pro-Russian VMROvci,” but the historical VMRO and Russia did not cooperate and even had bad relations, which we explained in the article “Russian Pseudohistorical Manipulation Reaches North Macedonia.”

There we also referred to the Russian consul in Ottoman Bitola, Aleksandar Rostkovski, for whom Jovanovski is making a big fuss and wants to erect a monument–​as he promised before the elections. The consul is remembered for sometimes standing up for the enslaved local population, but this had nothing to do with official Russian policy, especially because he had a negative attitude towards VMRO.

A rare exception to these tensions between the VMRO and the Russians occurred in 1924. At that time, there was an attempt for Todor Aleksandrov’s VMRO to cooperate with the USSR, but that too was controversial and unsuccessful.

The left and right factions in the Macedonian revolutionary movement were then supposed to reconcile and fight together for the liberation and unification of Macedonia, which would enter a Balkan Federation, similar to the USSR. The USSR would assist them in this through its political tool–the Comintern (Communist International).

It was not driven by “brotherly love for Macedonia”, but rather Moscow wanted to use VMRO for its own purposes, so Aleksandrov gave up on it, at least that is the impression from VMRO’s declaration No. 772, however, there are other interpretations of that renunciation.

The left and right factions did not unite, but an organization called VMRO (United) was nevertheless created, and in fact its members were mainly leftists like Dimitar Vlahov, and it was practically a puppet of the USSR and the Comintern. After all, VMRO (United) was mainly engaged in journalism and did not raise uprisings. These were rare and not very brilliant examples of cooperation between Russia and some kind of VMRO.

The USSR and the Comintern then also helped the Albanian Kosovo Committee, the Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk, the Irish Republican Army, the Chinese Kuomintang, and all those who worked to destabilize the capitalist countries: Britain, France, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, etc.

The USSR even called for jihad (Islamic holy war) against colonialists in the Middle East, and in other parts of the world it promoted other narratives suitable for the audience there.

 

Different narratives for different audiences

Jovanovski is close to the Russian embassy, ​​so perhaps through him they want to attract various segments of our society, presenting each of them with what they want to hear.

The Kremlin prommotes different narratives to different audiences, so, for example, it attracts leftists with the Soviet past, and rightists with religion, conservatism, homophobia, etc.

In our country, for example, the Kremlin may support the Left Party, but in another country–“rotten capitalists” like Donald Trump or right-wingers like Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini.

Russia receives migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and other ex-Soviet republics, mostly Muslims, but in Western countries it incites anti-immigrant and Islamophobic protests such as those of the Alternative for Germany and PEGIDA, in order to destabilize those countries.

In the Middle East, however, the Kremlin cooperates with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis, and the Taliban, while promoting pro-Islamic, anti-American, and anti-Israel narratives there.

In our country, the Kremlin expressed support for our constitutional name in the dispute with Greece, but in Greece it supported Greek nationalists, in order to prevent a compromise on the name and to stop us from joining NATO.

This is how the Kremlin’s tactic works, but Jovanovski may have gotten confused, and is presenting different narratives to the same audience. What is most tragic is that, judging by the comments under his posts, his audience does not notice the contradictions and does not react to them.

Or perhaps there is no tactic behind what Jovanovski is doing, he simply lacks clearly formed positions. There is no other explanation.

 

 

 

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