Reaction by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, regarding the statement of the leader of SDSM, Zoran Zaev, given on the Win-Win TV programme on 24Vesti TV, broadcasted on September 17, 2015 at 21:00

With regards to the statement given by Zoran Zaev during the Win Win TV programme on 24Vesti TV channel, broadcasted on September 17, 2015 at 21:00, in which he says:

"One more confirmation that the major figure in the country, the President of the country is merely an extra on the Macedonian political scene. Let me put it this way: We were in Strasbourg, we negotiated in Hahn's office, we went to Brussels, and we were here in Przhino in the European Union Residence, and if everything had been normal in Macedonia, we would have held the negotiations in the Cabinet of the President of the country"

I wish to inform the public that it is exactly Zoran Zaev who lies and shamelessly manipulates the public, due to these arguments:

The resolution of the current political crisis started upon my personal initiative.

- After a prolonged period of time without political dialogue, in the morning of May 10, 2015, I personally called Zoran Zaev and invited him to the Security Council Session. He accepted the invitation and participated at the Council session held in expanded format. At the session itself, I announced to the political leaders that in the following days, I had the intention to convene a leaders meeting in my Cabinet in order to overcome the political crisis.

- Three days later, I called him again in order to invite him to participate at the leaders meeting in the Presidential Cabinet. Zoran Zaev asked for time to consult with the party.

- I now call upon Zoran Zaev to stand his ground and explain to the public and to his membership what are the reasons behind him not accepting the invitation to participate at the leaders meeting in the Presidential Cabinet. I wish to remind him that the argument he presented to me was that there were no guarantees that he will not be arrested on the basis of the accusation acts initiated against him.

- My Cabinet informed the ambassadors of the USA and EU about this conversation, and under their pressure, Zaev accepted to participate at the leaders meeting, but in the MP's Club.
Since Zoran Zaev apparently wishes to manipulate and shamelessly lie to the Macedonian public, I would like to add a few more things.

- The first political crisis in 2011 was resolved through a series of leaders meetings, in restricted and expanded format, upon my initiative and inside the Presidential cabinet.

- The 2012 crisis following the events in the Assembly from December 24th was again overcome upon my initiative, and with participation of the EU and the political party leaders.

- Immediately after my second inauguration, I invited Zaev again for a meeting in the Cabinet. Zaev accepted that invitation, but has still not shown up.
All of this clearly points to his continuous attitude towards state institutions.

The Republic of Macedonia has the strength to overcome all political challenges, relying on its own capacities, but only if the leaders of the political parties act responsibly when it comes to the country, the citizens and their membership. Unfortunately, leaders with a Zoran Zaev type of profile obviously fail to fully understand their role and responsibility, or are hostages of the concept to destroy and discredit institutions at any price.

To conclude - yesterday, Zoran Zaev said "if everything had been normal in the state, we would have negotiated in the Presidential residence". There used to be normal negotiations in the Presidential Residence when there were responsible leaders in Macedonia. Unfortunately, the opposition leader right now is – Zoran Zaev.