The Macedonian National Security Agency (NSA), in coordination with other competent institutions, is continuously taking measures to uncover and disrupt a propaganda network within the country. This network pursues a destructive and malicious agenda aimed at influencing public discourse to serve foreign interests, the NSA reported on Thursday.
As part of joint, coordinated activities involving the NSA, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO), investigative actions were taken on September 18, 2026, against a Macedonian national linked to foreign actors. These actors are the architects of a propaganda apparatus comprising a network of news portals that are also integrated into the Macedonian media landscape.
Based on reasonable suspicion that the individual committed the criminal offenses of causing national, racial, and religious hatred, discord, and intolerance (Article 319 of the Criminal Code), disclosure of an official secret (Article 360 of the Criminal Code), and dissemination of racist and xenophobic material via a computer system (Article 394-g of the Criminal Code), a search of his home was conducted. Items were found and seized during the search and are currently undergoing further forensic analysis. The actual operators of this propaganda network, which serves Russian interests, hide behind cloned pseudo-news sites registered with Macedonian internet domains. These pseudo-sites are used to spread fake news and disinformation and to reshape narratives regarding current events, thereby undermining trust in institutions and fueling ethnic and national hatred and intolerance.
These activities represent a continuation of previously thwarted pro-Russian hybrid operations carried out by a Macedonian national linked to these propaganda networks; criminal charges were previously filed against this individual for the offense of dissemination of racist and xenophobic material via a computer system under Article 394-g of the Criminal Code.