Macedonia water crisis political dispute

In late July 2026 severe contamination of drinking water was reported in seven Macedonian towns, with foam observed in the Lepenec and Vardar rivers and the crisis spilling into Skopje. Opposition MP Jon Frčkoski called for the €5 million set aside for Independence Day celebrations to be redirected to water‑treatment infrastructure and accused Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and the VMRO‑OKG group of a systemic institutional collapse.

The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) framed the emergency as a "systemic disaster" on the anniversary of the 1963 Skopje earthquake, alleging that the ruling VMRO‑DPMNE government had weakened public institutions. VMRO‑DPMNE rebutted, saying the opposition was politicising the water issue, noting that distribution had been stabilised, and accusing SDSM of protecting a mayor through a coalition with the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).

On 28 July, VMRO‑DPMNE envoy Brane Petruševski criticised the SDSM‑DUI‑Tarar municipal coalition for applying double standards in the Gostivar water crisis, alleging they had failed to resolve the town’s contamination. He highlighted that state institutions were now supplying bottled water, re‑using water for technical purposes and planning safe drinking water delivery, while accusing the coalition of demanding accountability only from political opponents ahead of repeat local elections and urging support for Valbon Limani.