Stereotypes and prejudices about the Roma are still alive in the Macedonian media. One of those examples is the case of "homeless Roma burned the bridge at East Gate".
Part of the Macedonian media published "news" that in the village of Karpalak on the Tetovo-Skopje highway, Erdovan Shabanoski and Vebi Rushitoski were among the ten dead defenders from Prilepsko who were killed in an ambush in the armed conflict in 2001. However, unlike the fallen Macedonians who heroically gave their lives for Macedonia, the two Roma from Prilep actually gave their lives to "buy horses and haul wood from the mountains".
There is no author(s) of this "heartbreaking" - basically - nationalist statement, that Erdovan and Vebi did not give their lives for the country, but to buy horses! This "news" was published last year, but some media republished it this year as well.
"Erdovan, together with his brother-in-law Vebi Rushitoski, decided to register for the mobilization. With the money, they wanted to buy horses and start working in the forest, hauling firewood up the mountain and thus ensure their livelihood", reads the announcement of several Macedonian media.
Stereotypes and prejudices about the Roma are still alive in the Macedonian media
On May 16, TV Thelma's website published a news story with the title: "Did homeless Roma set fire to the bridge at East Gate?", despite the fact that at that time there was no official information on what caused the fire.
This news has been corrected by TV Thelma and if you search their website or google today you will find a news headline: "Group of homeless people set fire to the bridge at East Gate?". However, despite the corrections, the permalink still has the original title.
After almost three months, the investigation is ongoing and it has not been revealed what caused the Belasica bridge to catch fire.
As long as there are stereotypes and prejudices in the media that Roma "live under a bridge", "steal wood", "buy and mistreat horses", we will have hate speech.
