Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

The march, held on Saturday under the slogan ‘Macedonia has Love for All’, this year attempted to highlight attacks on gay rights activists and violence among schoolchildren.

“This year we are saying no to the violence that the government tolerates, fails to penalise, and fails to find those responsible for it. As a consequence, violence becomes commonplace and hurts everyone who is different,” said Uranija Pirovska, the head of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, which organised the event alongside the Macedonian LGBT Centre, the NGO Civil – Centre for Freedom and others.

Participants were reminded of the several attacks on Skopje’s gay and lesbian community centre and its activists over the course of the year, particularly in June, when rights groups tried to stage a gay pride week.

Despite the fact that the perpetrators were caught on video, the authorities have yet to bring them to justice.

The head of the NGO Civil, Xhabir Deralla, spoke of a “worrying increase in violence” in 2013, as well as “a tendency of increased violence among youth”.

Another of the groups taking part in the march, the NGO Youth Education Forum, raised concerns about youth gang violence in schoolyards and on public transport.

“Our research shows that 52 per cent of high school students in Skopje only occasionally feel safe in buses while 19 per cent never feel safe. Forty-nine per cent think that it is relatively easy to get a gun,” the Youth Education Forum said in a statement.

The march stated symbolically at five minutes till noon in front of the government building and ended with a cultural programme at the entrance to Skopje’s Old Bazaar.