North Macedonia’s Prosecutor's Office pressed charges against singer Lambe Alabakovski who was detained in connection with the arson attack against the Bulgarian Cultural Center "Ivan Mihailov" in the town of Bitola. Alabakovski was arrested on Tuesday and will remain in custody for eight days. The 34-year-old singer lives in the United States, but returned to Bitola a few weeks ago. 

The detainee confessed to the crime. "The arson attack against the Bulgarian cultural center was not done by one person only. This man movеs in anti-Bulgarian circles," Lyubcho Neshkov, expert in Bulgarian-Macedonian relations, said for Nova TV. Meanwhile, the left-wing party “Levitsa” has insisted that the charges against Alabakovski be dropped and called for a protest in support of the singer.