Special forces broke up a carnival that took to the streets during quarantine
Despite quarantine measures due to the COVID-19 epidemic, residents of the Macedonian town of Vevcani tried to hold a traditional carnival.
Ordinary police officers were unable to reason with the lovers of the unusual tradition, so police special forces took over.
As a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, the authorities previously warned the organizers of the traditional carnival that the country has a ban on gathering in groups of more than four people. However, many residents of Vevcani openly ignored this warning. “The police had to intervene,” the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs commented on the actions of the special forces.
The day before, the mayor of Vevčani Vevčan, Sašo Jankoski, called on citizens to comply with the measures and regulations of the Commission on Infectious Diseases, adding that “we are fighting an invisible enemy, and this is a very contagious and unpredictable disease.”
“We, as the municipality of Vevcani, have refused to organize concerts, exhibitions and all other events of the Vevcani Carnival 2021 this year with the sole purpose of protecting you, your families and your loved ones from this pandemic,” the mayor said in a statement. “Our enemies are neither the Commission for Infectious Diseases, nor the Ministry of the Interior, nor the doctors and medical personnel who call for compliance with measures and regulations; on the contrary, they are on our side, on the front line, taking care of our lives.”
Despite calls from the municipal authorities, many townspeople ignored Yankoski's words. As a result, there were clashes between people in fancy costumes and equipped special forces, which from the outside looked no less grotesque than the carnival itself.
The event itself is traditionally held in Vevcani on the Julian New Year and St. Basil's Day, combining Christian background and pagan traditions. Thus, participants in the procession traditionally wear monster masks, many of them made in the traditional style.
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