What happened:. After photos appeared showing that an Albanian flag had been put up at the border in
Gevgelija, MoI released a disclaimer that officially no such flags had been put up at this border crossing, and
that the posted photos were probably either edited in photoshop or the flag was put up, photographed and
then put down.
Date, time and location of the incident: 18 March, unspecified, border crossing Gevgelija.
Source of information: Electronic media outlet mkd.mk.
Victim(s) involved: none
Type of crime(s): Inciting Hatred, Discord or Intolerance on National, Racial, Religious and other
Discriminatory Grounds (Article 319 of CC)
Perpetrator(s): unidentified perpetrator(s).
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident, the bias motive is ethnicity, while the
bias indicators are:
1. Place – The incident occurred in such a way that in environment which is populated mainly by
Macedonians, the Albanian flag was put up. This is in relation to the Law on the Use of Languages, and
the series of incidents surrounding it.
Status of the case: Unknown.
Response of the local authorities: MoI’s response to the request for information states that this case has
not been recorded as an incident.
Impact on the victims and the community: This incident calls into question the ethnic co-existence of
the two major ethnic communities in the country.
