While students in Serbia continue their mass protests against the regime of President Aleksandar Vučić, a rally in support of the Serbian leader was organized in Kumanovo in front of the Serbian Consulate.
The gathering was organized by the Serbian association of Kumanovo and mainly brought together older citizens and sympathizers, who expressed support for the Serbian president with Serbian flags, nationalist songs, and pro-Vučić chants.
“This is a rally in support of Vučić. Serbian and Macedonian citizens are brotherly peoples, so why should we not support the Serbian people? Those students are not legitimate, while the President of Serbia is legitimate,” a Macedonian participant stated, according to Alsat.mk, as reported by RKS News.
Another participant said they had come out to support Vučić despite the ongoing student protests in Serbia.
Among those present was also a woman from Cuba, who stated that she was attending the rally but did not speak Macedonian well.
The gathering was held under heightened security measures and lasted only a few minutes.
The event comes at a politically sensitive moment, just one week after protesting students in Serbia published a memorandum regarding Kosovo, a document that sparked numerous reactions.
Meanwhile, the protest in Kumanovo took place only days after demonstrations by Albanian students in North Macedonia concerning the Albanian language issue.
At the same time, according to Serbian media reports, Belgrade is expected to witness one of the largest student-led protests organized so far.
