The Macedonian flag is burning during the celebrations on the 112th anniversary of independence, arrests and accusations of destabilization

The police of North Macedonia arrested eight people on November 29, in connection with the burning of the Macedonian flag in the Bit Pazar neighborhood of Skopje, during the celebrations on the occasion of the 112th anniversary of Albania's independence.

The Minister of Internal Affairs (MIB), Pançe Toshkovski, announced that the arrested persons are mostly young people between the ages of 18 and 21, while one of them, as he said, "is a minor".

"Four of those people were arrested because they committed violations, participating in beatings. Meanwhile, four other people have been arrested because we have grounds for suspecting that they have committed criminal offense 319, from the Criminal Code, which deals with 'inciting national, racial and religious hatred', where a minimum sentence of 1 year is provided imprisonment," Toshkovski said during a press conference on Friday.

He described the burning of the Macedonian flag as a "direct attack on the state", and said that these actions are evidence of prior warnings from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the destabilization of the country.

The footage of the incident, which was shared on social networks such as Facebook, X and TikTok, provoked strong reactions from political parties and public opinion in North Macedonia.

From the Social Democratic League (LSDM) in the opposition, they said that the security system has failed, for which they demanded the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs Toshkovski, the director of the Public Security Bureau, Aleksandar Janev, and the head of the Police Station in Skopje, Sasho Topallovski.

"Why didn't the Ministry of Interior have operational information in time to act preventively and prevent this from happening? What are they doing? How was the situation allowed to escalate to this level? Why did they allow such humiliation of Macedonians and the Macedonian state, moreover, why weren't those who shot and used firearms in the center of Skopje arrested", emphasized the organizational secretary of the SDSM, Martin Kostovski, on Friday.

The Albanian opposition party, the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), through a press release, announced an incident of burning the Albanian state flag. DUI condemned the burning of the flags - Albanian and Macedonian - and criticized the police intervention during the celebrations of November 28 in Skopje.

"In this context, it is unacceptable and shameful that VMRO-DPMNE [the ruling party] and other political forces are trying to use these incidents to build a false narrative that criminalizes any Albanian position. This tendency to represent Albanians as supporters of criminal agendas is an attack on our collective identity and dignity and an attempt to cover up their corrupt agenda", says the DUI's response, which calls on the institutions to act with prudence, professionalism and impartiality, without distinction, and guaranteeing the right of citizens to freely express their identity and culture.

The Macedonian Prime Minister, Hristijan Mickoski, described the case as staged and warned that "there will be no mercy", neither to the organizers, nor to the perpetrators of these acts.

"Because it is a small, isolated, manipulated group of those who protect their millions. As for those who are potential victims of these criminals and political abusers, I want to warn them that we will show no mercy to anyone. Anyone who violates the law and the Constitution will be held accountable," Mickoski said on Friday.

The Albanian coalition VLEN, which is part of the Government, also reacted, strongly condemning the events with the burning of national flags. Like Prime Minister Mickoski, VLEN also estimated that the case was staged, as he said, "by circles that want to destabilize the country".

"At the end of the day, these circles were announced which want to destabilize the country. Not that they love the state, but that they lack power. The VLEN coalition strongly condemns these unacceptable acts that happened last night during the Albanian independence day, where the state flags were disgracefully desecrated, images that were made public today by the local media", said VLEN.

Meanwhile, on Friday, during the day, the Public Prosecutor's Office of North Macedonia announced that it has started investigations into the burning of the flag and actions are being taken to fully investigate the incident. REL