In the city of Burrel, Albania, a crowd of young people set fire to the Macedonian flag chanting slogans about Greater Albania, Albanian media report. The Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted swiftly Tuesday, condemning the incident.

The protest was staged in response to the recent murder of two young men in Gostivar. Albanian media report that violence against ethnic Albanian high-school students was also a reason for the protests.

The group protested first in the center of the city chanting slogans against “the Macedonian racism.” Then a few boys trampled the state flag of the Republic of Macedonia and after failing to rip it, they set it on fire. They chanted: “Down with Macedonia,” and “Down with Macedonian Hooligans.”

The protests staged outside the Macedonian Embassy in Tirana Tuesday, organized by a civic organization, were peaceful yet insulting and anti-Macedonian slogans were chanted. About a hundred people carrying anti-Macedonian signs that read “We are people with history, who are you?” “We want unification of all Albanians,” etc, protested outside the Embassy. The Embassy was secured by the Albanian police and after the protests the crowd left the place peacefully.

The Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs harshly condemned the burning of the Macedonian flag at the protests in Burrel, Albania, and the chanting of offending slogans during the protest outside the Macedonian Embassy in Tirana.

“Incidents of this type combined with slogans with hate speech do not contribute to the otherwise excellent neighborly relations between Macedonia and Albania and the building of trust between the two nations,” the Ministry said.