Skopje, 4 December 2024 (MIA) — The Interior Ministry has detained 18 people over their involvement in various flag desecration incidents beginning on Albanian Flag Day; four of them are in custody, and ten are facing misdemeanor charges for street vandalism and traffic chaos, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said Wednesday.

"During the celebration itself, we detained eight people. Three of them ended up in custody for burning the Macedonian flag. We detained three more people in Prilep for burning the Albanian flag the next day. We detained one person in Kumanovo for tearing down a state symbol of the Republic of Serbia. We also detained one person in Kichevo for pushing down flagpoles with both the Macedonian and Albanian flags. The other day we also detained another person who was caught burning the Albanian flag in Skopje, and I have been told a pretrial judge has ordered detention for him as well," Toshkovski said.

Asked about the vehicles that were set on fire in Kumanovo a day after the Albanian Flag Day celebration, the interior minister declined to give any specifics due to the preliminary investigation under way, but he said a well-organized group was behind the Kumanovo car fire. mr/