Several hundred people marched on Tuesday in Skopje demanding immediate action from the government to tackle high levels of air pollution in the North Macedonian capital.
Wearing gas masks and chanting “We want air, we want to breathe”, the demonstrators took to the streets on the back of a report showing Skopje to be among the 10 most polluted cities in Europe.
“I’m protesting because we don’t have clean air, because they systematically kill every one of us and because it’s time for the government to do something,” 22-year-old student Anastasija Pavlovska told AFP.
Almost 4,000 people in North Macedonia die each year due to exposure to PM2.5 particles, the smallest particulate matter that can be inhaled and the most dangerous to human health, according to research issued by the Institute for Public Health.
Several environmental groups organising the protest accused the government of not allocating money in the budget to fight pollution.
“We are demanding this state finally stop poisoning its people, undertake measures and start implementing some sort of policy on air pollution,” Jane Dimeski, environmental activist and member of the Centre…