Skopje, 25 March 2025 (MIA) — Nightclubs and other places not meeting safety standards will be temporarily closed until their owners fix the problems, which also plague state-owned facilities like preschools, schools, and retirement homes, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday.

Answering reporters' questions at a foundation stone laying ceremony in Radishani, the prime minister said anyone who had violated the law would be held accountable, regardless of their political affiliation. Mickoski added that citizens "should be calm" because "justice is coming."

Speaking about shuttering illegal nightclubs, he said time "would be given to the owners to eliminate the shortcomings" and during this time "they will not work."

"This will be a large-scale operation," Mickoski said, adding that a large number of facilities were closed recently over not having legal operating licenses.

The government, he added, was righting the wrongs done for over three decades.

"This is not just about private facilities," Mickoski said. "There are also state-owned facilities. The state will need some time to put them right, those facilities built — or robbed — over the past three decades."

He said the facilities included "preschools, retirement homes, schools" that were "robbed" during renovation works.

"That is why they changed the Criminal Code with a European flag. They knew a government was coming that intended to work and punish those who robbed the state," Mickoski said. mr/