Some notes on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, urged restraint on the parties involved in the clashes between police and an armed group in Kumanovo in the North of the country, where 22 people have died in the early hours of Sunday. At the same time, the European Union said he was "deeply concerned" with this crisis.

Facts

Government sources claim that an armed terrorist group, whose purpose would be to attack government buildings, was the target of an operation involving elite troops, armored troops transports and cops with bulletproof waistcoats, which cordoned off a neighborhood of Albanian Muslim majority. Some locals claim that this is an initiative of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that intends to divert attention in order to cover his other crimes, including a scandal involving phone tapping.

Data

The Republic of Macedonia is a Balkan country that until 1991 was part of Yugoslavia. In 1993 he joined the United Nations under the name former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A member of the Council of Europe, is also a candidate to join the European Union and asked for NATO membership.

Demographics

Sharing borders with Kosovo to the Northwest, Serbia to the North, Bulgaria to the East, Greece to the South and Albania to the West, this country has a population of around two million inhabitants.

According to the 2002 census data, the largest ethnic group is that of the Macedonians, followed by Albanians, who dominate much of the northwestern region of the country.

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