Following the protest organized by the Macedonian Orthodox Church and other religious communities against attempts to redefine gender, President Stevo Pendarovski accused the Church of having ties with Russian secret services. Supporters of one minor party showed up at the gathering with a Macedonian and Russian flag tied together. In a TV interview, Pendarovski also insisted that there was Russian influence behind the April 27 2017 storming of the Parliament, but he acknowledged that there was legitimate anger in the Macedonian public at the time.

We can’t say that the Russian service forced Archbishop Stefan to issue this press release (critical of the proposed law on gender equality). There is legitimate concern in the Synod of the church. I won’t go into whether it is justified or not. But such elements will latch on to this and the Synod knows it. There is (Russian influence) in the top leadership of the Synod. I don’t mean the Archbishop. I know this and have told this to top church officials. This is based on reports from the relevant institutions, Pendarovski said. He added that there are also businessmen who cooperate with Russia, and people in political parties who have ties to Russian intelligence.