The scenarios with anti-Albanian hateful, racist and xenophobic chants in the stands of the gym in Kumanovo are repeated again during last night's North Macedonia-Romania basketball match.
"Let the damned Albanians understand, the Macedonian name will not disappear, pure, pure, pure Macedonia" — this was the refrain of the chants that were clearly heard from some of the fans on the podium, while the authorities present took no action to stop the hate speech.
The choirs did not stop, despite the presence in the hall of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, the mayor of Kumanovo Maksim Dimitrievski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pancho Toshkovski, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Stoilkovic and other senior state officials.
This was not the only provocative moment during the match. Throughout its development, other scandalous and ethnic hatred-inciting chants were also heard, such as the infamous slogans “A good Albanian is a dead Albanian” and “Gas chamber for Albanians,” reminiscent of the darkest rhetoric in European history.
After the match ended, there was no official reaction, public distancing, or apology from the organizers or institutional representatives for the incident that caused concern and outrage in the public.
The First Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Izet Mexhiti, has reacted sharply after incidents that occurred during a basketball match in Kumanovo, where racist and anti-Albanian chants were heard from the stands, Alsat writes.
"I strongly condemn the racist and anti-Albanian chants heard during the basketball game. Insulting words and songs that incite hatred have no place in our state and society," Mexhiti wrote in his public reaction.
He added that these actions constitute a direct attack on the coexistence and equality that, according to him, make North Macedonia a unique state.
The Democratic Union for Integration has also expressed its deepest indignation and revolt over the scandalous event that occurred last night in Kumanovo, during the basketball match between North Macedonia and Romania, where in the presence of the highest state officials, including Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, the Mayor of Kumanovo Maksim Dimitrievski, the Minister of Internal Affairs Pancho Toshkovski and the Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Stoilkovic, anti-Albanian chants, racist slogans and pure language of ethnic hatred against Albanians were heard.
Instead of the match being a manifestation of sport and unity, it turned into a theater of primitive nationalism and collective hatred, which has no place in a society that aspires to be part of the European Union. “A good Albanian is a dead Albanian”, “Gas chamber for Albanians”, “Pure Macedonia” – these are calls that take us back to dark ages of European history, and which cannot be relativized, cannot be silenced and cannot be tolerated. What is even more disturbing and disgusting is the silence of the organizers, the Basketball Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Municipality of Kumanovo, the Government and every representative present in that tribune polluted by hatred”, the reaction reads. Kosovapress. (A2 Televizion)
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