Lions (police unit)

File:Juli2001Kumanovo.jpg]]

The unit was formed in mid-2001 by the then-interior minister Ljube Boškoski during the insurgency in Macedonia. He named the unit after the hotel he owned in Croatia and his brand of wine.{{cite book |author=Elizabeth Pond |title=Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style |date=2006 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=9780815771609 |pages=174-175}} It was an unauthorized entity of former police and military reservists.{{cite book |author=Vera Stojarová |title=The Far Right in the Balkans |date=2003 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=9780719089732 |pages=140-141}} Most were also members of VMRO-DPMNE and some had criminal records.{{cite book |title=The 2001 Conflict in FYROM: Reflections |date=2004 |isbn=9781904423775 |publisher=Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Conflict Studies Research Centre |chapter=Lions & Tigers The Militarisation of the Macedonian Right |author=Saso Ordanoski |pages=22-27}} It also functioned as a VMRO-DPMNE-based paramilitary.{{cite journal |title=Challenging Assumptions of the Enlargement Literature: The Impact of the EU on Human and Minority Rights in Macedonia |author=Maria Koinova |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |doi=10.1080/09668136.2011.576023 |page=16 |date=2011 |volume=63 |issue=5}} Its personnel were all ethnic Macedonians but they had minimal contact with Albanians and were mostly used to provide security for Macedonian villages.{{cite web |title=Macedonia: Lions Menace Ends |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/macedonia-lions-menace-ends |website=Institute for War and Peace Reporting |date=6 September 2005}} After the conflict, it was transformed into an official police unit. The unit went to secure mass graves in the Tetovo area in November but it was ambushed and three members were killed by Albanians. In December, an Albanian farmer was killed by the police near Šemševo, with the Lions being the main suspects.{{cite book |author=John C. Phillips |title=Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans |date=2002 |publisher=I.B.Tauris & Company |isbn=9786000007843 |pages=158, 160, 189}} The Lions displayed shows of force in Albanian areas in January 2002 and during the election campaign in September 2002. They actively threatened ethnic cleansing against Albanians. The unit, along with the unit Tigers, was recorded assaulting workers, opposition journalists, media personnel, political activists and random civilians, and also threatening opposition politicians.{{cite book |title=Conditioning Democratization: Institutional Reforms and EU Membership Conditionality in Albania and Macedonia |author=Ridvan Peshkopia |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=9780857283252 |page=137}} In 2002, four members of the unit were involved in the killing of six Pakistani citizens and one Indian citizen, who were claimed to be terrorists. They were charged with murder but were acquitted in 2005.{{cite web |title=Macedonia 'staged fake terror plot to woo US' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/macedonia/1462562/Macedonia-staged-fake-terror-plot-to-woo-US.html |website=The Telegraph |date=22 May 2004}}{{cite web |title=Rastanski Lozja: Acquitted! |url=https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/North-Macedonia/Rastanski-Lozja-Acquitted!-29104 |website=Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa |date=27 April 2005}}

In January 2002, members of the unit received medallions of Christ from the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Stefan, which was criticized by human rights activists,{{cite book |editor1=Uwe Backes |editor2=Patrick Moreau |title=The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives |date=2011 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=9783647369228 |page=270}} Albanian political leaders and opposition political parties.{{cite web |title=Macedonia: Church Enrages Albanians |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/macedonia-church-enrages-albanians |website=Institute for War and Peace Reporting |date=16 January 2002}} In that ceremony, the commander of the unit, Goran Stojkov, was promoted to the rank of major general. Amnesty International reported that two citizens were allegedly severely beaten and threatened with guns and knives by members of the unit near Struga on 3 April 2002.{{cite web |title=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: The “lions” beat tonight: alleged ill-treatment of Macedonian citizens by paramilitary police. |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/eur65-025-2002-en-2/ |website=Amnesty International |date=1 December 2002}} The unit opposed the inclusion of former Albanian insurgents in the coalition government. Мembers of the unit and the Macedonian police had a standoff on 23-24 January 2003, blocking the main Skopje-Pristina road at the border crossing of Blace. The Lions ended their blockade after an agreement was reached between the unit, President Boris Trajkovski and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. It was agreed to disband the unit with most of its members joining the regular police and army.{{cite web |title=Macedonian special police end blockade |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2688937.stm |website=BBC |date=23 January 2003}} EU and NATO had also applied strong pressure on the Macedonian government to disband the unit.{{cite book |author=Filip Milačić |title=Stateness and Democratic Consolidation: Lessons from Former Yugoslavia |date=2022 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783031048227 |page=99}} The unit was disbanded in the same year. According to official data from Macedonian police, Lions' members had been involved in more than 70 criminal acts including weapons offenses, pub brawls, murders and assaults on civilians.

• Toni Mihajlovski, spokesman

• Ambush near Treboš
• Border Police
• Alpha
• Special Support Unit
• Lake Patrol

{{Reflist}}

Category:Specialist law enforcement agencies of North Macedonia

Category:2001 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia

Category:2003 disestablishments in the Republic of Macedonia

Category:2001 insurgency in Macedonia