Macedonia marks the World Press Freedom Day today, amid a campaign from the SDSM party against a number of media outlets that have criticized the party. SDSM leader Venko Filipce has recently made it his practice to call out journalists from a number of news outlets, primarily Alfa TV, and to accuse them of various crimes in front of his supporters gathered for his press conferences.

Over decades we have witnessed violence, pressure, threat and intimidation from SDSM, which is using its installations in the judiciary to conduct political persecution against all professional and independent media outlets. We will remember the past year by the record number of threats and insults against our colleagues. In 2025, MAN has registered 142 instances of threats against journalists – 80 more than in 2024. We are particularly concerned about the trend of assaults on journalists who are reporting from the grond, most often at events organized by the opposition parties, said the Macedonian Association of Journalists MAN.