Residents of Aerodrom, Skopje’s largest municipality, have been on the streets protesting for days against the choking smoke and foul odour from a fire at the illegal Vardariste landfill.

Although the early demonstrations drew only a handful of participants, each evening from 6pm to 7pm, residents blocked traffic at one of the major intersections in the municipality to express their anger at what they see as the authorities’ failure to tackle one of the capital’s most pressing environmental issues.

The situation worsened dramatically on the night of September 11, when fire also broke out at the Drisla landfill, in the southeastern outskirts of the capital, which authorities suspect may have been deliberately set.

By morning, the Aerodrom district was shrouded in thick smog that made visibility almost impossible. “Nothing could be seen from the window but fog – it looked as if a cataclysm had struck the city,” said one resident.

Outrage in the streets

On September 12, the protests amplified as several hundred citizens – many of them parents with small children – poured onto the streets.

“We are protesting because of the pollution coming from the Vardariste landfill, but citizens should come out in larger numbers. Every day we can sense the smoke and unpleasant smell. It is intolerable,” an elderly Aerodrom resident told bne IntelliNews.

Traffic came to a standstill as protesters blocked the main roads. With whistles, sirens and banners, they demanded urgent intervention.

Children sitting on their parents’ shoulders joined in the chants of “Air! Air! – we demand clean air!”

Led by a police van, the crowd marched to the Aerodrom municipal building to deliver their demands. But there was no one waiting to receive them, and they left their written messages on cardboard outside the locked doors.

Some of them stated: “Wake up, people! If not for yourself, then for your child – stop the landfill now!”, “Enough is enough – bring back our clean air!”, and “Every child has the right to live and grow. The state must protect our future!”

For the protesters, this crisis is no longer just about landfill fires – it is about years of unaddressed environmental neglect and broken promises.

The message from Aerodrom is clear: unless decisive action is taken, the protests will not remain local. They will spread across the capital, and the people of Skopje are prepared to block the entire city until they can breathe clean air again.

The crisis worsened on September 13, when a fire erupted at an electronic waste facility in the village of Trubarevo, near Skopje, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

Two people were hospitalised and two others received outpatient treatment at the toxicology clinic, the government press office confirmed. The incident added to growing concerns that fires at waste sites are putting residents’ health at serious risk.

‘Don’t take the children outside’

Medical experts have raised alarm over the health risks. Doctor Nenad Lazarov explained in a Facebook post that landfill fires release dioxins, furans and heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, compounds that are highly toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic.

“These enter through the air, accumulate in fatty tissues and the liver and cause acute and long-term respiratory, neurological and endocrinological disorders, especially in children, the elderly and chronically ill people,” Lazarov warned, stressing that these toxins persist long after the flames are extinguished.

The post drew dozens of comments, including from distressed parents. “Don’t take the children outside. We sit at home closed like prisoners – the child cries in front of the door because we cannot take him outside,” one mother wrote.

The Directorate for Protection and Rescue confirmed that at 7am on September 12, the Lisice monitoring station recorded over 39 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic metre – nearly eight times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended annual level. PM10 levels were also elevated, at 82.5 micrograms per cubic metre, according to local media.

While Skopje’s winter smog has long been infamous, the fires have triggered extreme pollution even in summer, with temperatures soaring above 30°C. The combination of heat and toxic smoke has left residents feeling trapped inside their homes, fearful for their health.

Government pledges 

North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski sought to reassure citizens, saying that the illegal Vardariste landfill had been secured with the help of private security, and that firefighting and construction machinery had been deployed to Drisla.

He confirmed that eight people had been detained for using the Vardariste site, which spans more than 20 hectares and has long been exploited illegally, news agency MIA reported.

“What has been neglected for decades, we will manage to repair shortly,” Mickoski insisted, adding that he sympathised with residents. But he also hinted at political intrigue, noting that the fires came just weeks before North Macedonia’s local elections on October 19.

“The real question is how much all this suits someone,” he said, promising an investigation into whether the incidents were deliberate.

Orce Gjorjievski, mayor of Kisela Voda and a candidate of the ruling, right-wing VMRO-DPMNE for Skopje mayor, stated on Facebook that there are serious suspicions that these fires are being started to create an artificial crisis ahead of local elections.

“This is not just testing our patience – it is endangering the health of thousands in Skopje,” he said, urging the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to act swiftly to identify those deliberately setting fires at landfills around the capital.

“Citizens are the victims, and this must stop. Institutions must act now to protect public health,” Gjorgjievski said.

Skopje’s winter smog

Skopje’s struggles with pollution are not new. Each winter, the city ranks among the most polluted in the world, as temperature inversions trap toxic air over the valley.

Thick smog is fuelled by a combination of ageing industrial plants, coal- and wood-burning stoves, heavy traffic from old vehicles, and poorly regulated construction dust. These factors, compounded by the city’s geographical position surrounded by mountains, have left residents breathing dangerously high levels of particulate matter year after year.

The air pollution crisis in North Macedonia has serious health consequences. Each year, more than 3,800 people die from exposure to harmful particles, representing 17.7% of all deaths in the country. Among infants under one year old, one in nine deaths is linked to polluted air.

In a report published last October, the World Bank said that North Macedonia will need to invest $6.4bn over the next ten years to protect its people and infrastructure from the escalating effects of climate change.

Across the Balkans, many countries remain dependent on coal and wood for heating. This reliance, combined with a slow shift towards renewable energy, has made tackling environmental problems particularly difficult.