The problems and rising tensions surrounding the reconstruction and arrangement of the yard of the church of St. The five in Galate were provoked by people from neighboring municipalities, said the head of Vrapcishte municipality, Isen Shabani, characterizing them as a criminal group.

Mayor Shabani's assessment comes after the events of the past two days with police action for detention, protest, reactions and complaints on social networks regarding the case.

Mayor Shabani said that he had a meeting with the secretary of the Tetovo-Gostivar Diocese and received information from him that the people who worked around the church are not part of the village church board of Galate.

- Behind this act is some other group of citizens who committed this criminal act. I tell this criminal group, for every problem, need, to address them in a legal way, because in this case they committed usurpation and demolition of the place, Shabani said.

He pointed out that cooperation and coexistence reign in the municipality he manages, and those who try to create schism and inter-ethnic tensions should do so in the municipalities they come from, emphasizing the neighboring Tetovo and Gostivar.

To a journalist's question, has anyone submitted documents or a request for the reconstruction of the church of St. Petka that was damaged by fire in 2001 or its renewal, Shabani said that there was no such thing. Regarding the request to stop the works and the police assistance, he mentioned that he, as an official, has the obligation to stand in the protection of property from the usurpation of other people's property.

The mayor of Vrapcishte, Shabani, explained that the municipal administration has been working normally since this morning, but indicated that he has information from the Ministry of Interior and the prosecutor's office about yesterday's incident, when two people were detained.

The diocese confirmed in a statement that the archpriest of Gostivar, archpriest-stavrofor Marjancho Madevski, accompanied by the diocesan lawyer and part of the church board, had a meeting with Shabani. The purpose of the meeting is to find a joint peaceful legal solution to the ordeal in Galate in the spirit of the traditionally good interfaith coexistence in Gostivar.

- The Tetovo-Gostivar Diocese strongly supports the rule of law and in that sense remains open to finding a solution to any problem by legal means, the Gostivar-Tetovo Diocese states

SVR Tetovo informed that police officers had a joint meeting with the president of the church board of the church "St. Bogorodica" in Galate to avoid further tensions.

- Police officers from the Department of Prevention at SVR Tetovo in the village of Galate had a meeting with V.R., president of the church board and M.D., treasurer of the church "St. Mother of God". At the meeting, they discussed the previous events surrounding the cleaning of the yard of the church "St. Five". Apart from that, they discussed the activities aimed at avoiding any additional tensions surrounding this case, as well as the further cooperation of the police and citizens, which is based on mutual trust, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tetovo.

Although protests were unofficially announced in front of the municipal building, they did not start, and the works of the church in the "hot springs" area near the village of Toplica have been stopped. The decision to stop work was also confirmed by the residents of the village of Galate, to which the church belongs. At last night's meeting, they reached a conclusion to work after receiving the appropriate permits from the municipality and condemned the entire event and dissociate themselves from the entire case.