Lives of children were endangered in the latest round of infighting between the local authorities in Skopje (now mainly led by the VMRO-DPMNE party) and the SDSM led Interior Ministry.

The police today refused to stop traffic on the Jane Sandanski boulevard in the densely populated Aerodrom part of the city during the celebration of a youth event. The event took place in front of the Aerodrom city hall, and hundreds of children and their parents were gathered near the busy boulevard while cars were still driving by.

We had an excellent event, a party featuring Macedonian artists, and the Interior Ministry decided to cause a problem. For over a week they did not respond to the routine request that the boulevard is closed during the event, said Aerodrom Mayor Timco Mucunski.

In a previous such incident, the police shut down traffic lights across Skopje and caused a major gridlock, which SDSM party activists then promptly blamed on the new Skopje Mayor Danela Arsovska. SDSM is actively trying to portray the newly elected mayors, most of whom are from VMRO-DPMNE, as incompetent and failing at their jobs.