Ljubomir Gjurceski, former deputy director of the criminal police, believes that the two mafia figures who were killed in Skopje yesterday were under the protection of powerful political and police circles.

Jeton Krivanjeva – Zhila and Enes Iseinov/Iseni – Laci were machinegunned to death in a popular shisha bar near the Kale fortress by professional attackers. Krivanjeva already survived one attack, in 2019, carried out in the Alexander Palace hotel.

Some of the media reports are getting close to the truth. During the 2019 attack there were reports that Krivanjeva was helped by a police officer to escape. It is a fact that all organized groups and clans have ties to political elites in the Government. They have a level of impunity from the state, Gjurceski says.

The attack comes at a time when the powerful DUI party branch in Cair is having serious factional struggles, and with it, control over this majority Albanian part of the city is up for grabs.