Reactions to Tripunovski’s Decision to Use Camera During Visit to Regional Unit

Additional Deputy Minister of Agriculture Cvetan Tripunovski’s unannounced visit to the Ministry’s Regional Unit in Berovo, recorded with a camera by a person accompanying him, has sparked a lot of reactions. On Saturday, the Ministry distanced itself from the activity. “These actions are not a practice of the Ministry’s functioning, but rather a personal act of Tripunovski with which we disagree and which we fiercely condemn. We call on Tripunovski to refrain from such activities, which directly harm the Ministry’s image,” the institution said. According to SDSM, Tripunovski’s activities represented mobbing and intimidation of public administration employees. As the ruling party said, VMRO-DPMNE’s offer consists of unauthorised recording, intimidation, maltreatment, and threats against employees. On the other hand, Hristijan Mickoski’s party said it was not about “party intimidation” of the administration sector. The previous day, Tripunovski, on his Facebook page, had posted a video of him conducting extraordinary control at the Unit. According to the Personal Data Protection Directorate, the employees’ privacy and personal data was violated. Tripunovski considers that the law hasn’t been broken. “It’s a public interest for this recording to be published. I will protect farmers always and everywhere,” he wrote afterwards.