Last weekend the world was shocked by news of a fire that took the lives of 59 people in a North Macedonian nightclub and injured an additional 156. Most victims of the Kocani fire were young people aged between 18 to 20. The blaze broke out after 2am at Club Pulse, most probably due to the pyrotechnics used during a concert.
At the venue, where a popular hip-hop band, DNK performed, around 500 people gathered on the night of the tragedy. In the unfortunate event the band’s lead singer, photographer, backing singer, drummer and keyboard player all lost their lives—only one member of DNK is known to have survived the fire. Lead singer of the group Andrej Gjorgieski died trying to save the lives of his young fans—the singer returned to the burning building to rescue partygoers. Albeit efforts were made to extinguish the flames, the fire could not be stopped and caused the single-story building, where the club was located, to partially collapse. Arguably the nightclub fire is the worst tragedy that has happened in North Macedonia, a country of less than 2 million, in recent memory.
The police are now investigating the club’s adherence to safety provisions. So far, they have made 15 arrests in relation to the nightclub fire. Among the ones arrested are the concert’s chief organizer. The country’s Interior Minister Panče Toškovski stated that detainees are questioned as there are ‘grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption’ linked to the fire as the venue did not have a legal licence to operate. The North Macedonian public prosecutor’s office confirmed that the building had only one operational exit, and the only alternative door at the back of the venue was locked.
Several regional countries stepped up to provide support to North Macedonia—Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Hungary all offered assistance to the tragedy-hit town. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó of Hungary immediately consulted with his North Macedonian counterpart and offered Budapest’s assistance to treat 19 injured victims. The first patients arrived in Hungary about a day after the incident, while four more arrived on Tuesday evening. On 19 March Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky confirmed that the Hungarian Army is also involved in transporting North Macedonian victims to Hungary for treatment. The victims are transported by an Airbus A319 aircraft to the Central Hospital of Northern Pest – Military Hospital. The six patients currently treated in Hungary are between the ages of 20 and 30. The North Macedonian victims who are expected to arrive in Hungary in the coming days will most likely be cared for in the Velkey László Children’s Health Center and the Bethesda Children’s Hospital.
‘Budapest’s assistance to North Macedonia is more than a one-time gesture of goodwill’
‘I would like to express, on behalf of myself and the National Assembly, my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and wish the injured a speedy recovery,’ House Speaker László Kövér said, adding that ‘Hungary shares the grief and pain of the North Macedonian people.’
Budapest’s assistance to North Macedonia is more than a one-time gesture of goodwill as Hungary did not hesitate to come to North Macedonia’s aid in the near past either. About half a year ago Hungarian firefighters were also involved in the effort to tackle wildfires in the Western Balkans country. A group of professional firefighters helped extinguish fire near the Jasen Reserve, protecting homes around the Kozjak Lake.
As Hungary’s humanitarian assistance also demonstrates, over the past couple of years the Hungarian–North Macedonian relations have strengthened. Just weeks before last weekend’s tragic events the North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski was in Hungary on the Hungary–Macedonia government summit. The summit covered economic relations between the two countries as well as North Macedonia’s EU accession process. North Macedonia has been an EU candidate country since 2005. Hungary strongly supports the Western Balkans’ accession into the European Union, criticizing plans to provide Ukraine with fast tracked EU membership in light of the fact that countries like North Macedonia has been awaiting EU membership as candidate countries for decades.
On the Hungary–Macedonia government summit Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán highlighted that the two countries share the dedication to defend their borders and stand against illegal migration. As the Western Balkans route is one of the main migratory paths into Europe, Budapest has been supporting the development of border infrastructure in the Western Balkans since the 2015 migration wave. Hungary has invested into the Western Balkans route’s resilience to stop illegal migration both in terms of equipment and expertise. In 2023, for instance, the 80th Hungarian police contingent arrived in North Macedonia to help intercept migrants on the Western Balkans route. In the past seven years Hungarian officers have been involved in the policing of the North Macedonian border, and participated in similar missions in Slovenia and Serbia, too. In 2022 in total 350 Hungarian police officers served on border protection missions abroad.
‘Hungary strongly supports the Western Balkans’ accession into the European Union, criticizing plans to provide Ukraine with fast tracked EU membership’
Economic cooperation has also accelerated between the two countries in the past years. In 2024 the government of North Macedonia took a 500 million euros loan from the Hungarian state-owned Eximbank. The loan came with an interest rate (3.25 per cent) favourable for North Macedonia. The loan is planned to be used both for local infrastructural development projects and for the repayment of a loan that was borrowed by North Macedonia earlier.
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