The European Union announced it will close its borders for Macedonian citizens, as the number of coronavirus cases spiked over the past weeks. Macedonians have been able to travel to EU countries since the lull in early summer, but unrestricted travel led to a huge spike this month.

The EU is also closing borders for American citizens, Israelis, Lebanon, Kosovo and Montenegro. All these countries were on the “safe list”.

Media outlets in a number of European countries awoke to the fact that Macedonian emigrants – mainly ethnic Albanians – are bringing a disproportionate number of cases after visiting Macedonia. Weddings and parties freely took place in June and July in Macedonia, and emigrants flocked to see their relatives after being denied in 2020. But as they did, the number of new cases exploded. Zoran Zaev and his Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce refused appeals from the opposition to close the border during the summer.