While VMRO-DPMNE celebrated its 36th anniversary in Strumica with patriotic songs, musical performances and a documentary, the opposition SDSM raised a question that stings: how much did all of it cost, and who paid for it?

SDSM's questions were direct: "300,000 euros? 500,000 euros? Or much more?" The opposition claims public money was spent on the celebration - for buses, for administrative employees brought in from all over Macedonia, and for per diems. The cost of a performance by foreign artist David Guetta is also mentioned.

The contrast SDSM is building is exactly what lands - while there was no money for higher wages, for agricultural subsidies or for a minimum wage of 600 euros, there was money for a celebration with a world-famous DJ. Regardless of whether the figures are accurate, the image is politically powerful: a government spending on a spectacle while telling its citizens the treasury is empty.

Of course, this is a game both sides play. When SDSM was in power, VMRO asked the same questions about their celebrations and trips. Party rallies have always smelled of public money, no matter who is in power. But that's precisely why the question is legitimate - not because the opposition is asking it, but because every government owes a clear answer on exactly how much its birthday cost. Will we get that answer, or just a counter-accusation?