Brussels wrote a report, and back home everyone reads it however it suits them. In its Rule of Law Report, the European Commission warns that pressure on the judiciary continues - while Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski declared the same document the best Macedonia has ever received. Same text, two opposite truths. The question is which of them the citizens feel on their own skin.

The report, published on 17 July, is decorous in diplomatic language but plain in substance. Interference and pressure from the other branches of power, it says, continue to raise serious concern for the independence of the judiciary. Officials and government representatives have intensified personal criticism of judges and prosecutors, and statements about „cleaning up“ the judiciary could undermine its independence.

The numbers that hurt

The hardest part of the report isn't the assessments, but the percentages. Only 21 percent of citizens and 19 percent of companies rate the courts' independence as good - down from 28 and 26 percent the previous year. Trust is falling, and the Commission names the culprit directly: the perception of pressure from the government, politicians and economic interests.

Then there's the money. For the court system, the 2026 budget provides 0.28 percent of GDP, even though the law requires 0.8 percent. For the prosecution - 0.21 percent against the legally mandated 0.4. In other words, the judiciary is funded at roughly a third of what the law itself guarantees. It's hard to be independent when you depend on the one who criticises you to approve your budget.

The prime minister isn't backing down

Mickoski not only didn't retreat - he announced he'll keep publicly criticising judges and prosecutors, and that they won't get more money until they show results. „I'll keep criticising them and publicly demanding results. Citizens themselves see that there's no satisfactory delivery of justice“, he said, rating the report the best so far.

The opposition reads it completely differently. From SDSM, through Executive Board member Aleksandar Naumoski, they say the report exposes „the brutal truth“ - no reforms, corruption is widespread, and the judiciary is under political pressure. „The report from Brussels is a red card“, Naumoski said, accusing the authorities of placing the prime minister's „feelings“ above the Constitution.

Between the government's self-praise and the opposition's alarm stands one figure that neither side can spin in its favour: four in five citizens don't trust the courts' independence. That's not Brussels' position, nor SDSM's - it's the position of the people themselves. And while the politicians squabble over whose report it is, trust in justice keeps melting away. Who's going to answer for that?