European media outlets are reporting about the attempt by the Government in Macedonia to ban news select outlets from reporting about the honoring of Goce Delcev in Skopje tomorrow. Republika and Pressing were informed today that their request for accreditation is refused and Government representatives are refusing to provide an explanation.

Brussels Morning is reporting about the scandal, informing that media are banned to report on hero’s Memorial Day in Macedonia and quotes Republika journalist Igor Caveski, who is one of those denied access to the events at the St. Spas church tomorrow.

In light of the events in the country, there are pieces of information that not all Macedonian media are allowed by the government in Skopje to be present at the event and report from the ceremony on hero’s Memorial Day. Journalist Igor Chaveski for the newspaper informs that the two media in the country magazine “Republika” and “Pressing TV” were not granted accreditation by the state authorities without any explanation for the reasons. “Following the working procedures on similar events, the journalist in the two media via email send a request to the government for permission for our news teams to be present at the memorial place where Goce Delcev rests in Skopje. But unfortunately, we were denied permission to do our journalistic work for no specific reason why. In short, the Government’s spokespersons Muhammed Hoxha and Dusko Arsovski did not answer our calls to us and we only got an email informing us in ‘Republika’ and ‘Pressing TV’ that we don’t have permission to be present at the honored place in the capital. After this response, the media that I work for asking for help from two journalist associations in North Macedonia called MAN and ZNM. Additionally, the same day we also informed the European Commission of this incident”, Brussels Morning reports.
Cavevski added that the Government of Macedonia reacted in this non-democratic way because it is bothered by the views that the two media spread regarding the dispute with Bulgaria, which often contradicts the government’s policies.