This opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by Xhabir Deralla, a Macedonian civic activist, journalist, and co-founder of the NGO CIVIL Today (Center for Civil Freedom in Skopje).

"As I mentioned the church is a very strong channel of direct Russian influence. We are investigating this for a number of years, and we have a lot of evidence to claim that the Macedonian Church is under heavy influence of the Russian Church," Deralla said.

As an example of that influence, Deralla pointed to the Macedonian Orthodox Church's refusal to recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The journalist also highlighted the active role of the Russian Embassy in North Macedonia, noting that it organizes events almost daily.

"Russian ambassador is aggressively active organizing all sorts of events every day and then the media without any selection publish the statements of the new ambassador… And many politicians are very gladly attending those events," the media expert warned.

Read also:Russia adopts Serbian narratives to portray itself as

Macedonians’ protector – media expert

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Deralla said that Russia had adapted its propaganda in North Macedonia by incorporating localized narratives and, alongside Serbia, portraying itself as the protector of Macedonians against perceived enemies.

Photo: Pavlo Bahmut