Macedonia: Nationalist protests continue

Event

The "Civil Initiative for a United Macedonia" continues to organize daily protests against the Social Democratic Movement of Macedonia (SDSM). Tuesday, May 2, marked the ninth consecutive week of demonstrations. Thousands of protesters gathered to follow the usual march route in Skopje, which runs from the Government Building on Ilindesnska Boulevard to the parliament, with a stop at either the VMRO-DPMNE Party headquarters or at the opposition SDSM party headquarters. Further protests are likely to continue on Wednesday, May 3, and in the following days.

Demonstrations regularly take place in other cities including Kavadarci, Kocani, Kriva Palanka, Kumanovo, Ohrid, and Strumica.

Context

The "Civil Initiative for a United Macedonia" is an irredentist political organization founded in 2009 by Ljube Boskoski, a former government official and previously a member of the conservative Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE). Though no major violence has been seen at the recent protests, tensions remain high and the security presence has been increased during the rallies. A significant number of nationalist and anti-Albanian protestors have joined the rallies, repeating their calls, begun on April 24, for early parliamentary elections, stating that it is the only way they would end their protest. Supporters of the VMRO-DPMNE began rallying on March 1 in Skopje to protest the proposed coalition government that would be led by the SDSM, in response to concessions made to the Albanian ethnic community. The protests have been spurred on by the leaders of the VMRO-DPMNE, including former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, not just for the reasons stated by protestors but also out of a fear that losing political power would pave the way for years of corruption, political abuses, and criminality to be prosecuted. The Macedonian president, from the VMRO-DPMNE, has unsurprisingly publicly rejected the new coalition, a move that has emboldened nationalist Macedonian protesters in addition to triggering protests by the Albanian community. On April 27, nationalist protesters stormed the parliament building and assaulted several SDSM deputies including the leader, Zoran Zaev, after they heard an ethnic Albanian parliamentarian had been elected as the new speaker. While the security presence has been increased since then, the participation in the protests and assaults of a number of high-ranking security officials, who were out of uniform at the time, and the close ties between the VMRO-DPMNE and the security forces raise questions regarding their eventual effectiveness should their intervention again be required.

In the parliament, the former VMRO-DPMNE assembly speaker refused to cede his post to his newly elected ethnic Albanian replacement, locking himself in the speaker's office with fellow conservative parliamentarians and refusing to let the new speaker take up his post. This incident came to an end when an improvised incendiary device was reportedly found in the parliament building on Tuesday, May 2, which led to its evacuation. Macedonia does not currently have a government.

Advice

Individuals in Macedonia are advised to avoid all demonstrations as a precaution and to refrain from discussing sensitive political topics in public.