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Over the case concerning the alleged March 2023 meeting at Villa Vodno concerning a comeback of ex-PM Nikola Gruevski to North Macedonia, Fokus has revealed details.
According to the journalist who authored the text, Vlatko Stojanovski, an employee of then-President Stevo Pendarovski’s Cabinet close to Blerim Bexhiti, who was then part of the so-called Fire Group of DUI, recorded part of the conversations. He did so by using his phone, which he left on record in the booth from which there was interpretation for the needs of one of the participants in the meeting, the journalist points out.
The person’s actions weren’t spotted by anybody, that is, after the end of the interpretation process, he took his phone without anybody noticing, the journalist also says.
A report was drawn up on the basis of that recording, which is around 40 minutes long, according to Stojanovski, who also says that the-ex PM, too, would talk about that report in posts on Facebook in terms of it being the alleged key evidence when it comes to him being accused by the current leadership of VMRO-DPMNE about him having a secret pardon deal for with the then-government. Stojanovski also says the report was given to VMRO-DPMNE by Bexheti. However, the former Saraj Mayor, who’s now a European Front MP, as DUI previously, has denied all allegations.
“I will seek an apology from Fokus. If there is no apology, I will file a lawsuit,” he points out.
The alleged meeting was at that time, too, being discussed among the public in the context of the constitutional changes and of an attempt to harm the then-opposition. However, nobody has officially confirmed it was held. Nonetheless, Pendarovski said in an interview he had been consulted informally by some actors part of North Macedonia’s politics about pardoning Gruevski, adding nonetheless that he had expressly rejected that possibility.
According to the Fokus story, the alleged meeting was organised by Pendarovski and inspired by then-PM Dimitar Kovacevski, while then-Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Maricic, then-1st Deputy PM Artan Grubi, then-Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, then-EU Ambassador David Geer, and US Ambassador Angela Aggeler were the other participants.
