Skopje, 9 August 2023 (MIA) — Seniors in retirement gathered Wednesday at Skopje's Woman Warrior Park to protest their small pensions and to demand from the state higher retirement checks in line with the minimum wage increase and rising living expenses.

Stressing that the protest was not political and organized by any party, retirees said it was "an existential protest" so that "the minimum pension be raised as soon as possible."

"The minimum pension should be equal to the minimum wage," Suzana Shkof said. The protester pointed out that retirees were requesting "the increases be linear, not percentual."

According to Shkof, all retirement checks should be increased by 3,500 denars each.

"People often mention they paid contributions way back when, so they receive bigger pensions. However, a pensioner is a pensioner. They do not contribute any more. There is no reason to categorize the increases. The stores are the same for everyone, the prices are the same for everyone, the health services are the same. Everything is the same. So there is no reason to differentiate between them," the protester said.

She added retirees were deeply disappointed with the responses to their demands.

"We heard the labor minister, we heard the pensioners' [union] president list her arguments that do not hold water. We can't have these institutions keep saying it took time to do this or that.

"They gave themselves 78 percent increases yet they say we had a long journey ahead of us. Well, it was a fast journey for them. On a Japanese train, I say. This is how fast they made those decisions initiated by who knows who and who knows how. Yet for us it was a long journey. Well we can't take it anymore," Shkof said.

The protesters said their current retirement checks barely covered their living expenses.

"We cannot survive on our current pensions," Vera Stojanovska said. "There's no money left [at the end of the month].

"Electricity has gone up, heating has gone up, the water and phone bills have gone up, not to mention food.

"We cannot afford to buy a candy bar for our grandchildren. We are asking for the state to increase our retirement checks to at least 20,000 denars," she said.

The protesters announced another pensioners' protest next week. It would include retirees from different parts of the country as well, they said. mr/