Politicians and institutions in North Macedonia have condemned nationalist chants and hate speech heard during a basketball match between North Macedonia and Romania in the northern city of Kumanovo, where Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and government officials were present.
The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia issued separate statements denouncing the incidents, which included anti-Albanian slogans shouted by a section of fans.
“Hate speech and insults targeting any ethnic community are an attempt to sow division among citizens,” SDSM said in a statement, warning that such behaviour undermines coexistence, social peace and damages the image of sport.
The party called on citizens to remain calm and not fall prey to what it described as “intentional provocations” that tend to surface ahead of elections. SDSM urged the prime minister and other officials present at the match to publicly condemn the chants with equal force.
Meanwhile, the opposition ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) demanded the resignation of two ethnic Albanian deputy ministers for failing to respond publicly to the chants. The party said Deputy Interior Minister Astrit Iseni and Deputy Sports Minister Safie Sadiki Shaini had failed in their duty to uphold public interest and social cohesion.
“Silence and lack of institutional reaction must not go without political consequences,” DUI said in a statement, urging all Albanian officials in the government to distance themselves from the incident and push for sanctions at the next cabinet session. If not, DUI said, they should resign from what it called “a government that fosters division and hatred.”
Bujar Osmani, outgoing foreign minister and senior DUI official, said chants such as “death to Albanians,” “gas chambers,” and “pure Macedonia” occurred in the presence of Prime Minister Mickoski and other officials. He warned that the absence of a government response risked normalising hate speech.
“The government missed an opportunity to show it stands with all citizens,” Osmani said, adding that past anti-Albanian rhetoric by coalition members—such as MP Bogevski, whom he claimed was rewarded despite his remarks—set a dangerous precedent.
Arben Taravari, leader of the opposition Alliance for Albanians, also criticised the silence of government officials. “Mickoski remained quiet, as if he accepted the chants as a continuation of his recent rhetoric,” he said.
Izat Medziti, a senior figure in the ethnic Albanian government bloc VLEN, condemned the incident, saying such expressions have no place in a democratic society.
“Sport should unite, not divide,” Medziti said. “North Macedonia is a shared state for all its citizens, and hate speech must not be tolerated.”
Bilall Kasami, the mayor of Tetovo from VLEN, described the slogans as “a blow to the very idea of civic society,” and said sport must not be misused as a platform to spread hatred.