Mickoski "On the Fly" With Rubio in New York — SDSM: A Hallway Chat Sold as a High-Level Meeting
The PM posted photos without a tie. The State Department hasn't confirmed details of the event where they met.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski posted photos and video on Facebook of an informal conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York, calling it "confirmation of the importance of the strategic partnership and continuous political dialogue with the United States." In the photos, the prime minister is dressed informally, without a tie — a detail suggesting the encounter took place on the sidelines of some event, not as a scheduled bilateral meeting.
Rubio, according to the State Department's published schedule, is in New York from 20 to 23 September for the UN General Assembly. The department has not released details of any specific reception or event he attended over the weekend, nor official confirmation of a meeting with the Macedonian prime minister.
Opposition party SDSM reacted sharply: "The prime minister is selling a hallway chat with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at home as an ultra-high-level meeting. There is no political etiquette. Like at a market," the party said in a statement. VMRO-DPMNE countered that, unlike in previous periods when the country "had a bent spine," today it "represents itself proudly and with dignity."
Neither side disputes that the conversation took place — the dispute is over how to characterise it: an informal encounter on the sidelines of an event, or a top-level diplomatic success. An official photo or video from the event itself where the two met has not been made public.
MKNews Hub · Politics · September 22, 2026