On Tuesday, the Municipality of Pehchevo rejected the initiative for the construction of a data center in the town. All nine members of the Council — five from VMRO-DPMNE and its coalition, three from SDSM and its coalition, and one from ZNAM — voted against it. The vote followed public backlash over the previous few weeks surrounding the announced project and the manner in which the procedure was conducted.
The Mayor, Aleksandar Kitanoski, himself proposed removing the initiative from the agenda, stating that he was doing so following strong reactions from citizens. The initiative, he explained, was submitted by private individuals, owners of the land, while he had an obligation to forward it to the Council.
Regarding the matter, Levica said the pressure had borne fruit.
“Mayor Aleksandar Kitanoski was visibly upset that Levica, despite having no Council members in Pehchevo, found out what was being prepared and alerted the public”, the party said.
PM Mickoski voiced a stance on the matter as well.
“As an engineer and as an individual, I believe that artificial intelligence and data centers are the new oil”, he stated. However, he emphasized that it was a private initiative.