“Nalej nalej”, the song dedicated to the Macedonian national liberation struggle, was viewed over 150.000 times since yesterday, when a version of the song prepared for the censored “Macedonia” show was released.

The song hit over 50.000 views on Youtube, and at least a 100.000 more on other platforms. The deeply emotional story of the Veles boatmen, who fought the Ottoman Empire only to be persecuted by the Communist Yugoslav authorities was going to be part of the major show commissioned from the Croatian Jadran Film company. But the project was cancelled shortly after the change of Government in 2017 and a campaign to rewrite Macedonian history and rename the country began.

Still, the song of defiance was released and as the voters are at a crossroad, many of them picked it up over the past two days.