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Incident with the flag of North Macedonia/Arrests and reactions in Skopje

2024-11-29 17:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Ministry of the Interior of North Macedonia announced that it has arrested eight people in connection with the burning of the national flag, which provoked large-scale reactions.

The incident happened in the Bit Pazar neighborhood of Çair municipality in Skopje, during the celebrations on the occasion of the 112th anniversary of Albania's independence, which Albanians also celebrate as the National Flag Day.

The Ministry of the Interior said that among those arrested is a minor, while the others are between 18 and 21 years old. Four of them are suspected of the crime of "inciting inter-ethnic, racial and religious hatred, and strife and intolerance", punishable by up to one year of imprisonment.

The images broadcast on social networks of the incident provoked strong reactions from political parties in the country.

The ruling VMRO-DPMNE called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, while assessing that, as they say, the event has a political background and was aimed at inciting ethnic divisions and tensions.

The Social Democratic League in the opposition, accused the government and the Minister of Order, Pançe Toshkovski, of "the lack of actions for prevention, control and quick intervention to prevent incidents", while demanding the resignation of the minister. Even the VLEN coalition of Albanian parties, which is part of the government, condemns the incident while accusing the Democratic Union for Integration of trying to "destabilize the country" in this way.

Meanwhile, the Albanian opposition parties, DUI and Alliance for Albanians, condemning the incident, announced an incident of burning the Albanian flag and expressed concern about, as they said, the "selective and one-sided approach of the police", which has taken measures only towards the Albanian citizens involved in the incidents.

DUI says that it was the police who instigated the incident by blocking the roads and stopping the participation of Albanians in last night's party in Skënderbe Square in Skopje./ VOA