A high-stakes parliamentary session for North Macedonia’s government reshuffle descended into chaos on Tuesday after Ivan Stoilković, a candidate for Minister of Local Self-Government, launched a series of aggressive verbal attacks against ethnic Albanian and opposition lawmakers.
The explosive incident triggered a mass walkout by opposition parties, forcing Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski to issue a sweeping public apology on behalf of the government to prevent a total collapse of the session.
The Assaults on Albanian and Opposition MPs
According to opposition lawmakers and eyewitness accounts, the targeted verbal harassment occurred during a session recess just before Stoilković—who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister for Inter-Community Relations—was set to be confirmed to his new ministerial post.
- Targeting Female Albanian Leadership: Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) MP Arta Bilalli-Zendeli revealed that ethnic Albanian MP Arbana Pasholli was a primary target of Stoilković’s vitriol. Bilalli-Zendeli condemned the behavior as “unacceptable, abnormal, and deeply offensive to all Albanian women in politics,” adding that the attack exposed Stoilković’s “open anti-Albanian sentiments.”
- Insults Hurled at Opposition: The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) called an emergency press conference, revealing that Stoilković had also verbally abused MPs Fatmir Bytyqi and Mitko Trajčuleski.
Prime Minister Caught in the Crossfire
The scandal quickly expanded to ensnare Prime Minister Mickoski himself. SDSM Parliamentary Coordinator Oliver Spasovski accused the Prime Minister of joining the fray by using highly derogatory language against opposition lawmakers, allegedly labeling them as “misogynists” and “trash.”
Spasovski also heavily criticized Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi for failing to maintain order or discipline the government’s nominees inside the chamber.
Refusal to Apologize Triggers Walkout
Following a closed-door coordination meeting led by the Speaker, an agreement was reached that parliament would formally issue a conclusion condemning the behavior, provided Stoilković apologized. However, Stoilković staunchly refused to issue an apology.
In response to his defiance, a united front of opposition parties—including SDSM, DUI, and the Alliance for Albanians (ASH)—abruptly boycotted and walked out of the parliamentary chamber.
“Every provocation or statement that violates the values of coexistence and mutual respect will receive the deserved political and institutional response from our side.” — Official Statement by the Alliance for Albanians (ASH)
Mickoski Steps In to Damage Control
With the legislative process paralyzed and the session on the brink of collapse just before the final vote on the new cabinet members, Prime Minister Mickoski took the floor to de-escalate the crisis.
Bypassing Stoilković’s silence, Mickoski took executive responsibility for the toxic environment.
“As the head of the Government, I want to apologize to you, the MPs, and to the citizens that we witnessed these events today. I sincerely hope that this will never happen to us again.” — Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia
Despite the walkout and severe backlash, the ruling coalition consisting of VMRO-DPMNE, the Albanian coalition VLEN, and ZNAM proceeded to finalize the government restructuring, though political analysts warn that the incident has severely fractured cross-ethnic relations within the new assembly.
