Gošince incident
The Gošince incident was an attack and hostage-taking on April 21, 2015 in Macedonia , which, according to the government, was politically motivated.
Course of the incident
After midnight on April 21, 2015 the Macedonian Interior Ministry participated, according to some 40 heavily armed men with KLA uniforms border crossing Gošince in the municipality Lipkovo one. After assessing the video and audio material, the group had come from Kosovo and temporarily took four border police officers hostage. They spoke Albanian among themselves and tried to say the following in bad Macedonian with a lot of Serbisms (therefore probably from Kosovo): “We are from the UÇK, let everyone know that neither Ahmeti nor Gruevski can save you. We want our state and we don't want an Ohrid Agreement . From now on nobody is allowed to come up. If we seize you or anyone else again, we will shut you all off. ”(Ne jemi nga UÇK, përcilljani të gjithëve se as Ahmeti dhe as Gruevki nuk mund t'ju shpëtojnë. Ne duam shtetin tonë dhe nuk duam asnjë marrëveshje Ohri. Prej tani, askush nuk guxon të vijë lartë. Nëse ju dhe cilindo tjetër, e kapim përsëri, të gjithëve do t'iu eliminojmë.) After half an hour, however, the group left again and released the four hostages.
Reactions in the media and in civil society
The Ministry of the Interior described the incident, which she was the first to publish - before the media - as "terrorist". The Kosovar authorities condemned any attack on the Republic of Macedonia and stressed that the two countries are working closely together on border security and that no suspicious movements were registered that night. On the same day, countless heavy police vehicles were sent to the border crossing. Before the incident, inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia were relatively stable, as confirmed by some residents in Gošince themselves, who were interviewed by Alsat-M . So everything is "staged" and "state propaganda". They “are not afraid” and “there is no panic”. While interethnic relations are already hanging by a thin thread about to deteriorate again, the reactions that the state has taken since April 21 are not seen as beneficial. Head of State Gjorge Ivanov assembled the Security Council on April 22, but without including a single ethnic Albanian representative. The Macedonian police did not let Albanian media into the village of Gošince, neither domestically nor from abroad, while Macedonian and above all pro-government media were free to do so. Most political parties - both Macedonian and Albanian - described the incident as state orchestration and propaganda .
Reactions from the state and the police
Two days after the incident, on April 23, 2015, three brothers were arrested by the police in Kumanovo . One of them is a police inspector and another is a war veteran who was active in the Kosovar, Macedonian and Serbian UÇK . On April 24, war veteran Rexhep Rexhepi was placed in pre-trial detention for 30 days for illegal possession of weapons by the public prosecutor. Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska (VMRO-DPMNE) denied any connection with the incident in Gošince. However, one of the brothers claims that he was questioned at the police station about his activities in 2001 and the incident.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski (VMRO-DPMNE) spoke about the incident for the first time on April 25 . He called it "serious" and denied any interference by the state in it. This reminds him of the incidents in 2001 .
In the early morning of April 26th, the Macedonian police started a major operation in the village of Malina in the north of Skopje , which is near Gošince. Two people were arrested. According to the villagers, they are being "terrorized" by the police. They are no longer allowed to leave their house, and the cattle also have to stay in the stable. The police asked shepherds and even children for their ID. Many villagers expressed their disappointment at the behavior of Macedonia's ethnic Albanian politicians who “would do too little”. During the day, the police operation was extended to the neighboring village of Breza. On April 27, Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska (VMRO-DPMNE) appeared before the press and stated that a person had been arrested in Breza for illegally possessing weapons. It is also suspected that he was directly or indirectly involved in the incident. Some of the weapons are the same that were stolen on April 21 by the 40 hostage-takers at the Gošince border post. The detainee's family, however, denied the Home Office statement. Their house in Breza has been empty for years since they moved to Aračinovo .
The reform movement in the PDSH under its chairman Ziadin Sela called on April 26th for the police to withdraw from the villages of Gošince and Malina. She asked the police to respect the villagers' freedom of travel and labor law.
Web links
- Terrorist attack on police station in Macedonia . In: The Standard of April 21, 2015
- Siniša Jakov Marušić: Macedonia Claims Kosovo Albanians Attacked Border Post . In: Balkan Insight of April 21, 2015
- Tense situation in Macedonia. Albinfo.ch from April 22, 2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Macedonia: Терористички напад - 40-тина лица ја нападнаа ПС Гошинце (terrorist attack - 40 people attacked police stations). (No longer available online.) April 21, 2015, archived from the original on April 28, 2015 ; Retrieved May 2, 2015 (Macedonian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo: Ministria e Punëve të Jashtme dënon aktin e sotëm ndaj stacionit policor në Republikën e Maqedonisë (Foreign Ministry condemns today's incident at the police station in the Republic of Macedonia). April 21, 2015, accessed May 2, 2015 (Albanian).
- ↑ Adrian Kerimi: Forca të shumta political core drejt Gushincës (Many police forces towards Gošince). (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 21, 2015, archived from the original on April 23, 2015 ; Retrieved April 22, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Presidential Office of Macedonia: Средба на државниот врв на Република Македонија (Meeting of High Officials of the Republic of Macedonia). (No longer available online.) April 22, 2015, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved May 2, 2015 (Macedonian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Mblidhet Këshilli i sigurisë, shqiptarët nuk marrin pjesë (Security Council meets, Albanians do not take part). (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 22, 2015, archived from the original on April 24, 2015 ; Retrieved April 22, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Policia lejon vetëm mediumet maqedonase të futen në Gushincë (police only allow Macedonian media to Gošince). (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 22, 2015, formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 22, 2015 (Albanian). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ferikan Iljazi: LD: Gushinca Tentative destabilizimi të marrdhënënieve ndëretnike (DL: Gošince, trial destabilization of interethnic relations). (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 22, 2015, formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 22, 2015 (Albanian). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Aksion Policor në Kumanove, arrestohen tre persona. (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 23, 2015, archived from the original on April 25, 2015 ; Retrieved April 26, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ MPB-ja i caktoi 30 ditë paraburgim Rexhep Rexhepit. (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 24, 2015, archived from the original on April 26, 2015 ; Retrieved April 26, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Gruevski: Gushinca eshte races serioz. (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 25, 2015, archived from the original on April 27, 2015 ; Retrieved April 26, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ferikan Iljazi: Aksion i madh Policor në të Maline Karadakut të Shkupit. (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 26, 2015, archived from the original on April 28, 2015 ; Retrieved April 26, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Macedonia: Се склопува мозаикот од истрагата за нападот на Гошинце (mosaic becomes more complete in the investigation of the Gošince incident). (No longer available online.) April 27, 2015, archived from the original on April 29, 2015 ; Retrieved May 2, 2015 (Macedonian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Arben Zeqiri: Familja Osmani, përgënjeshtron MPB-në (Osmani family refutes the Ministry of the Interior). (No longer available online.) In: Alsat-M . April 27, 2015, archived from the original on May 2, 2015 ; Retrieved May 1, 2015 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Movement for reforms in the PDSH: KOMUNIKATË - Të tërhiqen forcat policore nga vendbanimet shqiptare, në të kundërtën ne si opozitë nuk do të rijmë indiferent! (Communiqué - police forces should withdraw from the Albanian residential areas, otherwise we as the opposition will not remain indifferent!). April 26, 2015, accessed May 2, 2015 (Albanian).
