We have been associates for many years and know each other quite well, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Tuesday, commenting on the audio recordings that the opposition SDSM played at a press conference Monday. He also said he had nothing to add to what Minister Stavreski had stated at his press conference Monday that the authenticity of the recordings was yet to be determined in a court procedure.

“We have sorted out many things together. Through dialogue and debates, we have always found the best solutions. We don’t have the problem you think we have. Taking into account all the good things we have done, we can only feel proud,” Gruevski said.

In reference to what SDSM leader Zoran Zaev earlier stated about his relationship with Zoran Verusevski, the former chief of the Macedonian intelligence service, Gruevski said he didn’t have to say much about Zaev since Zaev himself said a great deal with his denials and subsequent confessions.  

“A few months back, Zaev said they didn’t know each other. A little later he admitted they knew each other and finally it turned out they knew each other quite well. At one point a letter emerged that everybody kept silent about but later Zaev himself confirmed its authenticity. Coded message sent via cell phones have also been found and Zaev confirmed they were true. Eventually it transpired that he bought a computer and planned to buy a car to the man he initially claimed he didn’t know. It’s a little strange, isn’t it? And only because he dared take action against the government. There are many people that dared do things against the Government, but I have never heard that Zaev bought all of them cars and computers,” Prime Minister Gruevski said.