MURDERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA AND RUSSIAN POLITICAL INSTALLATIONS

Written by: Xhelal Neziri

The double murder allegedly committed by Lubco Palevski – Palco in the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) surpasses even the greatest mysteries in thriller movie scenarios. Vanja Gjorčevska (14) from Skopje and Panco Zezovski (74) from Veles had nothing in common apart from their executioner. The two were allegedly hit in the head by a bullet fired by Palevski, a well-known figure in the Macedonian public. He was arrested in Turkey on Wednesday evening and is expected to be extradited to Republic of North Macedonia.

On November 22, Zezovski was abducted by three people close to Palevski. After being sent to the outskirts of the city, he was mercilessly killed by Palevski. According to the three suspects in custody, the motives for the murder were greed and profiteering. However, many dilemmas arise due to the fact that Zezovski was not rich. All his life he worked as a hairdresser in his small store in the center of Veles. His family was not even asked for any amount of money to release him alive. He was simply executed.

Five days later, on 27 November, the same group, led by Palevski, organized the abduction of Vanja Gjorčevska, a minor. At 7:30 am that day, at the time when she usually went to school, the group waited for the girl in front of her house. After neutralizing her, they put her in a camping sleeping bag and threw her in the trunk of the Citroen car they had taken from the first victim – Panco Zezovski. A “Reno Kangoo” car “cleared” the road, while a “Citroen” car drove behind it, where Vanja was hidden. In this case too, the three suspects stated that the motive was financial gain. They were told that Vanja’s mother had sold an apartment and the aim was to get the money out. Vanja’s father is also under investigation, who is said to have informed the kidnappers when his daughter left the house. But even in Vanja’s case, the kidnappers did not even demand money for her release. They killed her somewhere around 10:30 am, just two hours after the abduction. When asked why they killed her, the suspects said that the moment Vanja’s mother posted the missing girl on Facebook, “things got out of hand” and that the case became known all over the country. However, this does not apply because that the first post by Vanja’s mother was made at noon, after Palevski had committed the crime.

Palevski and his group are not typical underground people. They are founders of the far-right party “Desna”, an extra-parliamentary organization that promotes and defends the interests of Russia in North Macedonia. As chairman of this party, Palevski was previously chairman of the Social Democratic League of Macedonia (LSDM) in Skopje, or the most powerful person immediately after the former chairman of this party, Branko Crvenkovski. At the same time, he was involved in the construction and media business, but supported the country’s Euro-Atlantic path. During this time, he made many friends among politicians, including Albanian ones. From 2017, he slipped to the political extreme and became one of the biggest supporters of Russia in Macedonian public opinion. In addition to the “Desna” party, Palevski was a frequent guest in television studios, while last year he hosted his podcast on social networks called “Krs muabeti”. His latest podcast is number 113 and was broadcast on November 29, two days after the execution of Vanja and one week after the execution of Panco. The regular date for his shows was Sunday, November 26, but in a message on his Facebook profile, he says he is canceling them for Tuesday, so he will end up holding them on Wednesday.

His pro-Russian positions and opposition to the political forces advocating the country’s integration into NATO and the EU have always been present in the public eye. He was an opponent of the 2017 law on the Albanian language, the Prespa agreement that solved the thirty-year-old name problem with Greece, and the country’s Euro-Atlantic orientation.

In 2019, Palevski is arrested at Belgrade airport while waiting to travel to Moscow. He is arrested by the Serbian police on the basis of an arrest warrant previously issued by Croatia.

Even Panco Zezovski, one of Palevski’s victims, seems to have moved in the same political waters. He even disseminated video content from experts close to Russia, including his executioner. In 2017, Zezovski joined the “Edinstvena Rusia” party, which is led by Janko Bacev, a politician who represents Russia’s interests in the country. Two of Putin’s first advisors, Aleksandar Dugin and Leonid Savin, were present at the founding of this party.

In all this combination of events, the lack of logical explanation of the motive for the murders of Palevski and his group comes to light. If the aim was not to extort money from the victims, why were they kidnapped and killed?

There are two possible leads that can lead to the real motive: the first is that two Macedonians are killed and the blame is placed on the Albanians, and the second, that it was related to the OSCE summit that took place in Skopje on November 29 through December 1, attended by senior representatives of the US, EU, Russia and other countries. The first approach could indicate that Palevski is interested in creating a political climate in which his far-right party would increase the chances of a good electoral result in the parliamentary and presidential elections in May 8, 2024 by instigating interethnic conflicts. While Vanja’s fate was unknown, portals close to pro-Russian structures in the country published disinformation that the 14-year-old girl was being held hostage in Kosovo and that the perpetrators of the kidnapping were ethnic Albanians. The second lead, meanwhile, is linked to an attempt to undermine the OSCE summit in order to create unrest that would prevent the arrival of high-ranking world leaders such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

However, these leads will remain in the realm of conspiracy until the investigation by the public prosecutor’s office in Skopje is completed. These days, the cell phones of the suspects and victims, their contacts, the two pistols found during the raid on Palevski’s party offices and other collected material are being examined. Part of the dilemma can also be clarified by the main suspect of the two murders, Lupco Palevski, who is detained in the city of Balikesir in Turkey and was arrested there when he tried to flee to third countries, allies of Russia.

The author is The Geopost associate from Skopje