Ahead of the Local Elections 2025, North Macedonia faced a serious wave of hate speech, ethnic and sexist attacks, as well as political selectivity from institutions. From sports fields to social media, nationalism and discrimination were once again used as a political weapon, while young people and women were most often targeted.
The elections are over, but the wounds they opened remain. The hate, the chants calling for “gas chambers,” the attacks on young people, the sexism, racism, graffiti, and online lynching — ultimately brought results to those who deliberately played on the darkest human emotions. The politicians who were supposed to calm the fire – remained silent. Some even fed it.
Stands of hate and political silence
On August 2, 2025, in Kumanovo, the basketball match between the Macedonian and Romanian national teams turned into yet another incident flooded with nationalist chants and hate speech. What is scandalous is that the biggest defeat echoed from the stands: “Let the damn Shiptars understand, the Macedonian name will not perish”, “Gas chambers for Shiptars”, “Good Shiptar, dead Shiptar”. These chants took place in the presence of a government delegation, among which Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Minister of Internal Affairs Pance Toskovski, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Stoiljkovic, the Mayor of Kumanovo, Maksim Dimitrievski, and other government officials.
After two days of silence, Prime Minister Mickoski “used the opportunity” to condemn the incident, stating that it involved a small group of fans and that he had not heard the chanting at all.
“To be honest, while I was there, I did not notice it at all… But also, I would like to take this opportunity to join in the condemnation of nationalism and xenophobia.”
At the match, on the stand opposite Mickoski, a larger group of fans with “Vergina” symbols displayed a banner reading:
“For the Macedonian people to exist, they do not need your permission.”
Mickoski’s coalition partner, the leader of the Macedonian Concept party, Petar Bogojeski, regarding the chants at the match, justified the hate speech by relativizing —that the Macedonians in Kumanovo were provoked by the Albanian ethnic chauvinism! By Ahmeti’s statements with belittling and insulting tone toward the sacred holiday of Ilinden! They are not bullies, nor haters!
“Macedonian youth are not criminals! They are the voice of an underestimated generation that still believes in its own country! Enough with the double standards!”
Bogojeski’s relativizing message, without condemnation for the hate speech of the fans in Kumanovo, came after Prime Minister Mickoski condemned the unfortunate incident, emphasizing that he had not even heard the nationalist chanting from a small group of fans. Bogojeski “had Mickoski’s back” while condemning that unfortunate event. However, the condemnation did not reach him, even though he was only one meter away from the Prime Minister…
Young people as “cannon fodder” in the pre-election battle
With the local elections approaching, nationalism was used as a dangerous political weapon. In Bitola, Tetovo, and Veles, physical attacks, insults, and graffiti containing hate speech were observed. The youngest are either perpetrators or victims, while politicians remain on declarative “condemnations”.
Examples of incidents:
- Bitola: “Ckembari” attacked an Albanian, a Swedish citizen, because of a T-shirt with the Albanian national symbol. The victim, after being unable to defend himself, “voluntarily”, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, handed over his T-shirt, and the attackers fled. Later, criminal charges were filed against five minors.
- Tetovo: Members of “Vojvodi” beat two Albanian high-school students, one suffered a broken nose, the other broken ribs and an arm fracture. Police arrested four fans.
- Veles: Graffiti containing hate messages against Albanians: “Every Shiptar who goes up, comes back cold” and “A good Shiptar is a dead Shiptar”. The municipality reacted by cleaning them, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs still has no information about the perpetrators.
The fan groups are turning into something resembling paramilitary structures that spread fear and hatred, while politicians remain on declarative “condemnations”, without real (re)action. Particularly alarming is that insulting chanting occurred even in the presence of Prime Minister Mickoski and Minister of Internal Affairs Toskovski. Does this send a message that hatred is allowed, or even encouraged?
Nedelkovski defends the government with insults and sexism:
“SDSCommie, win the elections and then replace Pance and Hristijan — until then, blow me above my knees”
The Executive Director of FC Vardar, Milenko Nedelkovski, well known to CIVIL’s monitoring for years— with explicit and insulting speech attacked Zana Dzaferovska from the Women’s Forum of SDSM. The reason is that she, on behalf of the party, demanded the resignation of Minister of Internal Affairs Toskovski and the dismissal of the entire Veles Sector for Internal Affairs, due to the tragedy in Veles in which a young woman and her father were killed, after which the murderer committed suicide.
Nedelkovski, defending Toskovski, addressed Džaferovska with insults and sexist comments:
“Zana, the whole nation wants SDSCommie to be abolished, yet you still linger around. So, if you want to replace Pance, go ahead and organize yourselves, seek public support, win the elections and then replace both Pance and Hristijan, replace Timco, and Nikolovski, and Koce Yellow Boot… And until then, Uncle Milenko sends you a message that the song of Zana (Nimani) ‘Touch My Knees’ for you Zana (Dzaferovska) has been remained to ‘Blow Me Above My Knees”, Nedelkovski wrote.
Disgusting comments and fierce hate speech about the tragedy of the Bulgarian diver in Lake Ohrid
On August 9, 2025, Macedonian media reported that I.T. (52) from the Republic of Bulgaria had disappeared while diving in the waters of Lake Ohrid, near the village of Trpejca, after which, as CIVIL’s monitoring notes, an avalanche of inappropriate hate speech, disgusting comments, and rejoicing over someone else’s misfortune followed on social media portals, this time over the disappearance of a diver from Bulgaria in the lake waters.
“They have a sea at home but don’t know how to dive, ah, what karma does to you”; “Lake Ohrid is a tomb for Bulgarians”; “What kind of drugs was that Tatar on”; “He probably went to Albania, maybe he was carrying goods”; “He was looking for some evidence that Turko-Mongols once lived there, well, he found it”; “One less piece of sh*t”; “And, I thought Bulgarians were empty-headed and didn’t sink in water”; “Looks like the water carried him to Albania to look for a Bulgarian”; “They’re handing out passports to Albanian people”, are part of the inappropriate hate speech of some social media users in the country, the cancerous tissue that is destroying normal life in our country, but also in the region.
The malicious comments did not go unnoticed in neighboring Bulgaria either. Journalist and analyst Vladimir Vladimirov, who often uses Macedonian in his comments on social media, wrote in a Facebook post:
“Unfortunately, yesterday a Bulgarian man drowned in Lake Ohrid while diving there… Under the news articles in various media in North Macedonia there are massive horrific and cynical comments, ‘jokes’ and joy over the tragedy!? Never in my life have I seen such inhumanity and vulgarity!”, Vladimirov said in the post.
Hate speech, sexism, and political attacks on social media
“I was thinking about whether to vote for VMRO, but now I’ll definitely vote! The list of candidates for council members of VMRO-DPMNE for the Council of the City of Skopje. Number 38. Luna Stefanoska, Macedonian influencer. How can we not vote for her and not support her?” wrote a certain profile under the name “Robusna akcija” on X.
The same profile posted a photograph of Luna Stefanoska and the VMRO-DPMNE candidate for mayor of the Municipality of Karpos, Sotir Lukrovski, whose T-shirt had a photoshopped caption reading: “I’m not a gynecologist, but I can take a look”.
CIVIL and VMRO-DPMNE most strongly condemned the hate speech and discrimination, emphasizing that such attacks are a direct blow to democratic values and gender equality.
Apasiev vulgarly launched the local election campaign: “Shit on Mickovism”
The MP and leader of the Levica party, Dimitar Apasiev, launched the 2025 local election campaign with a provocative and vulgar expression: “Shit on Mickovism – vote for Levica”.
The provocative language and personal attacks by political leaders can have a negative impact on the electoral culture, even though they do not formally constitute hate speech in the sense of the legal regulation. Such statements are an indicator of potential emotional polarization of the public and the need for attention to the ethical aspect of political communication.
Otherwise, before the start of the election campaign, the Declaration for Fair, Free, and Democratic Elections, proposed by the President of Parliament, Afrim Gashi, was not signed only by the parliamentary group of “Levica”.
Selectivity in the actions of institutions
The case with Branko Trichkovski’s comment about the “suitcase” on VMRO Square showed that institutions react quickly when figures close to Prime Minister Mickoski are affected, which indicates selectivity and political protection.
In a comment on Facebook about the case of the “suitcase” left on VMRO Square, veteran journalist and columnist Trichkovski wrote: “The biggest pre-election stunt they would have pulled would have been to stuff Hristijan’s dismembered body into the suitcase!”, for which, as he himself says, he immediately received an invitation for an urgent informational interview with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
CIVIL’s legal team assessed that Trichkovski was most likely reported for endangering security — under Article 144 of the Criminal Code, after which he had been summoned for an interview at the police station, as part of the procedure following the report.
After Albania’s victory over Serbia, insults in Tetovo and political tensions
Following Albania’s victory over Serbia, ethnic insults and chauvinistic chants appeared in Tetovo, most likely from members of the “Balisti” fan group, who shouted offensive and chauvinistic slogans, including ones against Macedonians and Serbs: “Macedonian girl — biggest little wh*re”, “Infidel pu****s”, “Die Serbia”, “UCK”…
While some citizens used such events for party propaganda, one of them was the candidate for mayor of Skopje, Zoran Jovanovski, known for his advocacy for closer relations with Russia, who in these local elections was running as an independent candidate, that is, as a member of VMRO-DPMNE, which is only formally and legally supported by the United Macedonia political party.
Jovanovski on the social network X, where he is known as “СТВАРАЛАЦ начитан Брсјак и бич божји @ZoranJovanoski3” commented: “That’s why we should stick with Russia… And that’s why you should vote for me for mayor of Skopje”.
To which the profile “Safra Shpanec” asks him: “And what will Russia do?”
Jovanoski replies: “It doesn’t have to do anything. They’ll figure it out themselves, and they’ll calm down, and they won’t be moving like this…”.
And then CIVIL reacted that hate speech, regardless of who it comes from, must not be a means for political points. Democracy is built with ideas, dialogue, and respect, not with insults and divisions. Only with reason and dignity can a fair electoral process and a society in which everyone feels equal and safe be ensured.
Insults in Bitola: VMRO-DPMNE candidate declares ‘nuseto Gabriela’ dead!
Gabriela Ilievska, the candidate for mayor of the Municipality of Bitola from the ranks of the “Poinaku” movement, posted on her Facebook profile that a VMRO-DPMNE council member candidate had been posting insulting and inappropriate comments directed at her. Specifically, candidate for council member Ljupco Petrovski commented under a post by the current mayor and VMRO-DPMNE candidate, Toni Konjanovski: “I declare nuseto Gabriela dead!”
Such inappropriate speech provoked reactions from the public and from the “Poinaku” party.
Disinformation, election silence and racist outbursts
During the 2025 local election campaign in North Macedonia, a high level of hate speech and violations of the election silence were observed, especially on social media. The campaigns were led with insults, provocations, and disinformation, which violates the electoral process and affects the public discourse.
The day before the main elections (Saturday), sick and frail persons voted at their home address, as did persons in detention or prison, and those placed in nursing homes. All ballot boxes — including these — are opened and counting begins after voting ends on Election Day (Sunday), when all citizens vote.
However, the Facebook page “Gevgelija denes” published false and manipulative content, that is, alleged voting results from sick and frail voters in Gevgelija:
VMRO – 177 votes (89%), SDSM – 19 votes (10%), Levica – 1 vote (0.5%) and ZNAM – 1 vote (0.5%).
After voting ends for sick and frail persons, people in detentions and nursing homes, the results are not counted immediately, and no one can know who won how much until the official start of counting on Election Day. Counting begins only after the voting ends on Election Day (on Sunday), when all ballot boxes are opened simultaneously.
Therefore, any information or figure published before the official closing of polling stations is considered disinformation!
In addition to such fake news, hate speech was also spreading on social media, especially along ethnic lines. One of the comments on the X network read:
“The Shiptar diaspora for Chaska. Our people from Veles don’t want to go to vote, so a Macedonian municipality went to UCK. You motherf****rs”, wrote the user “Komandirot”.
In Prilep, during the election silence, a headquarters of the ruling party was open, and comments circulated on social media such as:
“You can freely say they’re vmrons from VMRO. No one is registering you”, posted the user “Splinter”.
The portal Naroden Glas, meanwhile, published unconfirmed information during the election silence that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had detained several individuals in Prilep for alleged vote-buying, with the headline:
“MOI BOMB: Father of the Mayor of Krusevo, Tome Hristovski, deprived of freedom, his father bribed in the Prilep Roma settlement Trizla?!”
“Gyupcies should be banned from voting” – council member from the right-wing MAAK with a scandalous racist outburst in Negotino
Explicit and degrading hate speech towards the Roma community in Negotino was directed by the newly elected council member from the party Macedonian Action – Conservative Party (MAAK), Ljube Temelkov.
In his post on Facebook on 20 October, the day after voting in the first round of the 2025 Local Elections, Temelkov offensively wrote:
“The Gyupci from Krivolak with gyupci work are deciding with us 15,000 people in Negotino whether we will live in a healthy environment or be screwed over with paid votes… This cannot be, and Gyupcies should be banned from voting”, said, among other things, the newly elected council member Temelkov.
Instead of an apology – a council member from the right-wing MAAK confirms his racism against Roma in Negotino through a denial
Accusations, abuses and political tensions
After the conclusion of the local elections, following a preliminary procedure and securing of evidence, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office of Kavadarci filed an indictment against the council member from the Macedonian Action – Conservative Party (MAAK), Ljube Temelkov, for the criminal offense – Dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems, under Article 394-d, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.
The accused, a 67-year-old resident of Negotino, on October 20 shared a video on his social media profile and page, inciting hatred and discrimination against individuals based on their ethnic background. In the video, he used numerous offensive words towards members of the Roma nationality and called for them to be banned from voting in elections, the Kavadarci Public Prosecutor’s Office announced.
CIVIL, through the podcast “Just Wanted to Ask Something”, reacted sharply to the explicit and degrading hate speech towards the Roma community in Negotino, directed by the newly elected council member from the Macedonian Action – Conservative Party (MAAK), Ljube Temelkov.
Deputy Prime Minister Stoiljkovic nervously reacts to a journalist’s inquiry from CIVIL –a tendentious and inflammatory message on social media
Following several comments on social media and in the media, claiming that the daughter of Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Stoiljkovic, Sandra, allegedly works in one of the Kremlin’s offices, CIVIL requested a response from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Inter-Community Relations, Ivan Stoiljkovic.
However, although CIVIL Media correctly and professionally addressed a journalistic inquiry to Stoiljkovic with the aim of timely and accurate information to the public, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to CIVIL’s question through a disparaging post on social media. Namely, instead of replying to the question sent by email, the Deputy Prime Minister chose to reply through a post on his personal Facebook profile.
“My daughter Sandra Stoiljkovic in November 2023 enrolled in a Master of Business Administration program at one of the world’s most prestigious business management academies, Skolkovo in Moscow, which she successfully completed in June this year, earning the title Master of Business Administration. This is her second master’s degree; the first is from MGIMO and is a so-called ‘red diploma’, meaning she was among the five best master’s students. Since 2024, she has been working as an external manager for business partnerships at KOKOC GROUP — an international platform for creating solutions for international business development. This is publicly available information, and I don’t understand who needs these insinuations and why. Even if it’s from CIVIL, it’s too much”, Stoiljkovic wrote.
In doing so, Stoiljkovic himself confirms that his daughter has close ties to Russia, led by dictator Putin, with which her father maintains friendly relations, and at the same time publishes the content of the inquiry sent by CIVIL, thus inadvertently confirming that the editorial team acted in the most correct manner and with professional journalistic standards when sending the question. Still, the context of the post itself is such that it triggered hate speech against CIVIL and the head of the organization.
What, then, is too much from CIVIL for the Deputy Prime Minister in Mickoski’s government?
The fact that the editorial team wanted to hear his side as well, and not convey the posts on social media one-sidedly. What happened can be seen from the attached. Still, given the Deputy Prime Minister’s public stances, actions, and policies, it is not surprising that he decided to engage in indirect correspondence with CIVIL via social media, even though he was sent a letter with a proper question. We have strong reason to believe that the way Deputy Prime Minister Stoiljkovic responded to CIVIL’s question indicates that something else bothers him about CIVIL, and not the issue of his family members’ links to Russia.
Although CIVIL offered him space to present his position, contrary to the allegations on social media, Stoiljkovic responded with arrogance and inflammatory rhetoric, which we interpret as exerting pressure and an attempt to incite hatred towards CIVIL.
Hate speech – A serious challenge to the democratic process
The 2025 Local Elections in North Macedonia demonstrated that hate speech, sexism, ethnic tensions, and disinformation remain a serious challenge to the democratic process. An urgent response is needed from institutions and political leaders to protect citizens, especially young people and women, and to ensure a fair and safe electoral process.
The 2025 Local Elections also showed that disinformation, hate speech, and violations of the election silence, especially on social media, remain a serious challenge to the democratic process and to media ethics in the country.
Dehran Muratov
In cooperation with CIVIL Hybrid Threats Monitoring Team
Project Context: This analysis was produced within the project DEMOCRACY NAVIGATOR – Strategic Response to Disinformation and Hybrid Threats (2025), implemented by CIVIL – Center for Freedom, in cooperation with partner organizations in the Defending Democracy Global Initiative and supported by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Editorial Independence and Responsibility: The findings and conclusions presented in this analysis are independent and are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of partners or supporters. CIVIL retains full editorial independence. Any errors remain the responsibility of the authors.