Macedonian police make arrests in wake of violence

The police in Macedonia late on Sunday arrested seven persons in connection with a spate of ethnically motivated attacks in the towns of Skopje and Tetovo. The incidents left five people injured during the past several days. Macedonian police make arrests in wake of violence It was announced that the suspects were "known to the police", and that they previously faced charges related to theft and violent behavior. According to the Macedonian MUP, the attackers in Tetovo were carried out by supporters of a local ethnic Albanian football club, Shkendija, who call themselves "Balistas", after a WW2 collaborationist organization. The police also said that three more incidents were reported in Skopje during the previous night, when one person was attacked in the Chento neighborhood, while a 66 year-old man was beaten with baseball bats in another part of the town. Two more persons were attacked in another incident. None of the perpetrators of these attacks have been apprehended. Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said on Sunday that he would call a session of the National Council for Security if necessary, and appealed on all citizens to "behave responsibly". Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski rejected the opposition's accusations that the incidents were the result of a conspiracy organized by the government, "in order for Macedonia to be admitted to NATO". "I have never before heard a thesis so idiotic as that the government engaged citizens of Albanian and Macedonian ethnicity to beat each other up in order for Macedonia to join NATO," he was quoted as saying, and adding that the government "would never engage in such dirty games". Gruevski also noted that the MUP had filed 30 complaints against participants in the attacks. Media close to the government are reporting daily about the incidents, stressing in the headlines that the victims were Macedonians, while Albanian language media are reporting exclusively about those incidents that targeted ethnic Albanians. The country's broadcasting authority warned the media "not to raise tensions with this type of reporting", and to carry the news about the incidents "with care". Beta

Macedonian police make arrests in wake of violence

It was announced that the suspects were "known to the police", and that they previously faced charges related to theft and violent behavior.

According to the Macedonian MUP, the attackers in Tetovo were carried out by supporters of a local ethnic Albanian football club, Shkendija, who call themselves "Balistas", after a WW2 collaborationist organization.

The police also said that three more incidents were reported in Skopje during the previous night, when one person was attacked in the Chento neighborhood, while a 66 year-old man was beaten with baseball bats in another part of the town.

Two more persons were attacked in another incident. None of the perpetrators of these attacks have been apprehended.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said on Sunday that he would call a session of the National Council for Security if necessary, and appealed on all citizens to "behave responsibly".

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski rejected the opposition's accusations that the incidents were the result of a conspiracy organized by the government, "in order for Macedonia to be admitted to NATO".

"I have never before heard a thesis so idiotic as that the government engaged citizens of Albanian and Macedonian ethnicity to beat each other up in order for Macedonia to join NATO," he was quoted as saying, and adding that the government "would never engage in such dirty games".

Gruevski also noted that the MUP had filed 30 complaints against participants in the attacks.

Media close to the government are reporting daily about the incidents, stressing in the headlines that the victims were Macedonians, while Albanian language media are reporting exclusively about those incidents that targeted ethnic Albanians.

The country's broadcasting authority warned the media "not to raise tensions with this type of reporting", and to carry the news about the incidents "with care".