Experts raise the alarm in North Macedonia due to fears of instability on February 4

 North Macedonia Parliament, Skopje (archive)

 Fear, debate, and numerous public statements from experts and analysts in the Republic of North Macedonia have resulted from the Security Council of North Macedonia's warnings about potential tensions on February 4 and President Stevo Pendarovski's calls to stop the entry of a significant number of Bulgarians who are known to have made irredentist statements about the neighboring country.

Security experts are concerned that on February 4, the anticipated celebration of the Macedonian-Bulgarian revolutionary Goce Dellchev's birthday, a number of secret structures motivated by Russian secret services will open fire, igniting a conflict between the two nations, local media reports.

According to security expert Bashkim Selmani, "The president’s decision to ban the entry of high-risk persons would be a fair and preventive stance... Macedonia is currently very interested and obliged to have good relations with Bulgaria," and "Russian secret services are very interested in undermining this process, while the consequences can be extremely negative if the state does not intervene and prevent this in time."

Professor Zllate Dimovski stated that the case of beating the Bulgarian club secretary was given weight because it was a typical act of provocation that would not be the last.

“We have reached the point where, even though he is the secretary of an organization and does not hold any special position in the state, a plane arrives to transport him to a medical facility as if something extraordinary had just occurred. This is a classic act of provocation. I really don't know how we should act in the future if we see a car with Bulgarian plates or a Bulgarian citizen. We should talk to you or not talk at all to avoid provoking them, even if we are innocent. Dimovski said, "I don't understand this at all."

Experts in the field of security warn that Russian-linked structures in North Macedonia could exploit the current hostility between the two sides to stoke tensions that could lead to clashes between the people of the two countries. They have proposed preventing any suspicious individuals or structures from participating in Goce Dellchev's birthday celebrations by precisely identifying them.