The city of Skopje decided to award thousands of euros to political activists close to the ruling SDSM party, under the guise of funding artistic projects of dubious value.

One of the recipients is the Plostad Sloboda group which will receive 3.000 EUR for a child related project. The group is founded by Nikola Naumoski, who is the chief of staff of Skopje Mayor Petre Silegov, making this donation directly corrupt. Naumoski, who is also a close relative of Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska, would lead numerous protests against the previous VMRO-DPMNE led Government and the VMRO-DPMNE led city authorities, but after taking up the position in the city, he went missing whenever issues he used to protest about, such as destruction of green spaces, would happen on his watch.

Another recipient is Dj Mirko Popov, from the PMG Recordings group, who stands to gain 2.500 EUR from the city. Popov is also an outspoken leftist supporter, and is best known for his frequent threats he issues online against critics of the Government, at one point calling that “all churches in the country are burnt down”.

Former Culture Minister Robert Alagjozovski will receive 1.600 EUR through his Kontrapunk group which says it will use the money for a “festival of critical culture”.