A serious incident with nationalist overtones and open hate speech against Albanians occurred during the pre-qualification match for the Basketball World Cup between the representatives of North Macedonia and Romania, held in the city of Kumanovo.
The event has taken on scandalous proportions due to the presence of top state leaders, including Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Kumanovo Mayor Maksim Dimitrievski, Foreign Minister Pancho Toshkovski and Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Stoilkovic, who did not react to the public's obscene calls. During the match, some of the fans in the stands let out open anti-Albanian chants, which were clearly heard in the sports facilities and were widely reported by the local media.
“Let the damned Albanians understand, the Macedonian name will not disappear. Pure, pure, pure Macedonia”, was one of the refrains that was chanted in chorus, in the presence of state authorities. The scandal did not end there. Further, extremely serious and condemnable calls were also heard such as: “A good Albanian is a dead Albanian” and “Gas chamber for Albanians”, bringing back to mind the darkest rhetoric of hatred and fascism in the history of Europe.
The incident has caused strong reactions on social networks, where many Albanian citizens and public figures have strongly condemned the event, while it is expected that the Albanian community in Macedonia, as well as international factors and human rights organizations, will demand immediate clarifications and concrete measures against the tolerance of hate speech at an official sports event.
