Outgoing Prime Minister Zoran Zaev revealed to the Parliament that the damage caused by the Albanian nationalist group Shverceri to the Macedonian National Theater amounts to a little under 4.000 EUR. The Shverceri, who are the often violent fans of the Shkupi football club, were allowed to celebrate their 30th anniversary in the recently rebuilt theater and the scenes of their rampage through the building shocked the public.

Zaev insisted that the group will make up the damage and that individual rioters will be punished – an unlikely proposition given the coming elections and Zaev’s reliance on Albanian votes.

Meanwhile, his coalition partner Ali Ahmeti, who leads the DUI party, said that the group was not engaged in vandalism and that “he saw nothing objectionable in the celebration”.