Weekly Briefing, Vol. 38, No. 3 (MK), March 2021
Thousands of Macedonians travel to Serbia to get vaccinated exposing the incompetence of their own state
Summary
By mid-March, N. Macedonia had obtained only a minimal supply of vaccines. What the country’s healthcare had available was thanks to the donations from Serbia and Russia which had delivered 8000 Pfizer and 3000 Sputnik V vaccines respectively by the 7th of March. By mid-March, only 0,3% of the Macedonian population had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, the delivery of 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines from PR China failed to materialise under suspicious circumstances, in spite of the Government’s repeated assurances to the contrary. [1]This was the case also for the order of 833,000 doses through the COVAX system and the additional 800,000 vaccine doses ordered through the EU, neither of which had been delivered by mid-March. Due to the Government’s failure, several thousand Macedonians took matters into their own hands and travelled to Serbia to get vaccinated. The country had made its vaccinations available to Macedonian citizens who were able to express their interest for vaccinations via the Serbian e-portal. It is estimated that around 10,000 Macedonians had received the first dose of vaccines in Serbia between the 27-29 March. However, the numbers are likely to be even higher when we consider the additional Macedonians who had obtained the vaccines in Serbia since February 2021.
In spite of multiple assurances by the Government that mass immunization in North Macedonia (Macedonia thereafter) will commence in February, the country had failed to obtain a single vaccine by early February.[2] At the same time, neighbouring Serbia had one of the best vaccination rates not only in Europe, but also globally.[3] This regional asymmetry in combination with the policies taken by the Serbian government, unleashed an interesting social dynamic with political and symbolic implications. In response to their Government’s failure to provide vaccines, Macedonian nationals took matters in their own hands and started engaging in so-called vaccine-tourism, taking short trips to neighbouring Serbia in order to get vaccinated. At first the Serbian healthcare system made vaccines available to all Macedonians who have a Serbian citizenship or who have Serbian roots. However, it soon transpired that all Macedonian citizens can express interest in getting vaccinated in the Serbia via their online portal.[4] Although sporadic media reports reported that Macedonian citizens are getting vaccinated in public hospitals in southern Serbia, no official data was made available regarding the exact figures or the procedure that is being followed.[5] In March, official figures regarding the numbers of Macedonians vaccinated in Serbia started to be published. On the 21st of March, the Office of Serbian President Vucic confirmed that 100 Macedonian news reporters had been vaccinated in Vranje, a town in southern Serbia. They informed that the vaccination had been organised by the Serbian Government in response to requests made by the Serbian Association of Reporters in support of their colleagues from the Macedonian Association of Journalists.[6]Other social organisations started to self-organise in a similar manner in the weeks that followed. The Chamber of Commerce of Serbia announced that 10,000 vaccines had been made available to businessmen from the region: from Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo. Moreover, the Macedonian Independent Trade Union of Policemen announced that they are in the last stages of negotiating vaccines for the members of their Union from their sister Unions in Serbia.[7]
The highest immunization rates of Macedonian citizens in Serbia were achieved between 27-29 March, when around 10,000 Macedonian citizens are reported to have traveled to various vaccination centers across Serbia to get vaccinated.[8] Social media were flooding with commentaries about the process, with Macedonian citizens exchanging information about their experience. The positive commentaries about their experience in Serbia served to accentuate the contrast between the effectiveness of the Serbian vaccination process on the one hand and the complete incompetence of the Macedonian government on the other. This raised and accentuated the general sense of anger and dissatisfaction of the Macedonian public with Zaev’s Government. Increasingly impatient calls for responsibility and resignations started to flood in from different political angles and from increasing numbers of individuals from across the Macedonian society. The sense of a detachment and carelessness on behalf of the Macedonian government was especially prevalent on Saturday 27th of March. As thousands of Macedonian citizens were travelling to Serbia to get vaccinated, the Macedonian government back home was busy celebrating the 1st year anniversary from the country’s accession to the NATO alliance. This contrast served to accentuate the deep cleavage between the ‘strategic goals” of the political elites, and the urgent needs of the Macedonian people.
On the very same day, Ursula von der Layen, the President of the European Commission, rushed to Twitter in an attempt to neutralise the political and symbolic implications of these developments. She tweeted in English: ”We stand by our partners in the Western Balkans. I have discussed with leaders from the region the delivery of vaccines to Western Balkans’ countries, funded by @EU_Commission to vaccinate rapidly healthcare workers & vulnerable people. Together we will overcome the pandemic!”. [9] What is more, she also tweeted the following message in Macedonian: “We are standing next to our partners from the Western Balkans. We have discussed with Zoran Zaev, the procurement of vaccines for (Flag of) Macedonia with European Commission funds in order to enable a speedy vaccination of the health workers and vulnerable citizens. Together we shall overcome the pandemic.[10] However, the Macedonian tweeter community met the message with despondency and sarcasm, labelling it will phrases such as “too little too late”, or criticising it as a desperate attempt to neutralise the role played by Serbia in the absence of any EU support in terms of the vaccines made available for the Macedonian public. Furthermore, the tweets revealed a growing mistrust and scepticism towards the EU, exacerbated by the pandemic.
The mass vaccination of Macedonian citizens in Serbia proved to have a strong political and symbolic effect also domestically. Zaev declared that he “understands the social revolt” and that he wasn’t “pleased that our people had to travel to Serbia to get vaccinated”[11] On the other hand the President Pendarovski and Health Minister Filipce engaged in a bitter feud over who bears the responsibility over the state’s inability to provide vaccines. First the President publicly declared the Commission for Infectious Disease and the Minister of Health as responsible for the absence of vaccines. Then the Minister of Health retaliated by blaming the President for not providing enough support in the process. [12] The back-and-forth political infighting continued in the days that followed exposing the growing rift within the political establishment as the society was entering the third wave of the pandemic and the infections and deaths were skyrocketing.
Thе vaccination of large numbers of Macedonian citizens in Serbia had a strong symbolic and socio-political effect. Firstly, it demonstrated the absence of trust amongst Macedonians in their own government. Secondly, it exposed the growing social anger against a Government which is proving to be detached and incapable to manage the health crisis. Thirdly, it also obtained an international dimension, by contrasting the competence, effectiveness and solidarity of the Serbian healthcare vis a vis the incompetence and ineffectiveness of both the Macedonian Government and the EU. The fact that the Serbian state had been able to vaccinate more Macedonians than the Macedonian state, had both domestic political and social implications. Its symbolism was particularly prevalent in the memories it invoked of socialist Yugoslavia, of the period when Serbia and Macedonia belonged to the same state. Thus, on a social level the vaccination process in March 2021 served to bring back to the contemporary stage fresh memories of the Yugoslav system. This was only accentuated by its contrast to the deeply detached and incompetent Macedonian neoliberal state which has repeatedly proven to be unable and unwilling to provide support for its people at a time of a deep health and socio-economic crisis.
[1] Following the publication of a news story by the Italian Newspaper La Verita, the Macedonian anti-corruption commission launched an investigation into the allegations that the Macedonian state had attempted to procure the vaccine through a highly suspicious process. Balkan Insight (2021). North Macedonia to Probe Corruption Concerns in Vaccine Procurement Affair, published on 12.03.2021, available at
https://balkaninsight.com/2021/03/12/north-macedonia-to-probe-corruption-concerns-in-vaccine-procurement-affair/ accessed on 15.03.2021
[2] SEE News (2020). N. Macedonia to get first batch of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in Feb available at
https://seenews.com/news/n-macedonia-to-get-first-batch-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-in-feb-726439 accessed on 03.03.2021
[3] Radovic, S. (2021) Vaccinations in Serbia: Spaces and Functions of the Legacies of Yugoslavia and Non-Alignment? Published on 29.03.2021 available at https://lefteast.org/vaccinations-in-serbia/ accessed on 05.04.2021
[4] Serbian E-Portal for https://euprava.gov.rs/imunizacija-covid-19
[5] Mkd.mk (2021). Macedonians are flooding Serbia in order to get vaccines, published on 03.02.2021 available at https://www.mkd.mk/svet/vesti/blic-makedoncite-navalija-vo-srbija-na-vakciniranje accessed on 03.03.2021
[6] Kanal 5 (2021). The Office of President Vucic confirmed that 100 Macedonian reporters will be vaccinated, published on 21.03.2021, available at https://kanal5.com.mk/od-kabinetot-na-vuchikj-i-uns-go-potvrdija-vakciniranjeto-na-100-makedonski-novinari-vo-vranje/a466429 accessed on 03.04.2021
[7] DW (2021). Macedonian affairs: Some in Vranje,others in Nish, published on 25.03.2021 available at
[8] Infomax (2021). A people without a state searches for a way out, Published on 31.03.2021 available at https://infomax.mk/wp/%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b4-%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%b7-%d0%b4%d1%80%d0%b6%d0%b0%d0%b2%d0%b0-%d1%81%d0%b5-%d1%81%d0%bf%d0%b0%d1%81%d1%83%d0%b2%d0%b0-%d0%ba%d0%be%d1%98-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%ba%d0%be-%d0%bc%d0%be/ accessed on 03.04.2021
[9]EC Commision President, Ursula von Der Layen’s Official Twitter Account, Tweet published on 27.03.2021 https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1375862388080132103
[10] EC Commision President, Ursula von Der Layen’s Official Twitter Account, Tweet published on 27.03.2021 https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1375840163948023816
[11] Naroden Glas (2021) Published on 30.03.2021 available at https://narodenglas.com/%d0%b7%d0%b0%d0%b5%d0%b2-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%b7%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d0%bc%d0%b8-%d0%b1%d0%b5%d1%88%d0%b5-%d0%bc%d0%b8%d0%bb%d0%be-%d0%b4%d0%b0-%d0%b3%d0%b8-%d0%b2%d0%b8%d0%b4%d0%b0%d0%bc/ accessed on 04.04.2021
[12] 360Stepeni(2021). “Pendarovski to Filipce, we made initial contacts with pharma companies back in December” Published on 30.03.2021 available at https://360stepeni.mk/pendarovski-do-filipche-ushte-vo-dekemvri-jas-gi-napraviv-prvite-kontakti-so-farmatsevtskite-kompanii/ accessed on 04.04.2021