Three Armed Men Caught After Three-Hour Overnight Search in Pelister National Park

On Wednesday evening, sometime after 7 PM, the ranger service of Pelister National Park received field reports that armed individuals had entered the park's strictly protected zone. By midnight, two patrols were already out — one setting off from the village of Velušina, the other from the Info Center — with a single goal: reach the "Golema Griva" locality, where the unidentified men were reportedly moving.

The route there is neither short nor easy. At an altitude above 2,000 meters, in darkness, over rock and steep incline, the two patrols — backed by police officers from Bitola — walked for more than three hours before finally locating the three men, around 11:30 PM. From that point, police took over command of the operation. The men were taken to a police station in the early morning hours of August 13, around 4 AM.

An Old Road, A New Problem

Park director Ivančo Toševski pointed to a broader issue behind the incident — the so-called "French road," a leftover from World War I that once connected Golemo Ezero lake to the Greek border, sits abandoned and unmaintained today. That road was once meant to serve as a key artery for fire protection and ranger patrols across the mountain's southern and southeastern sections. Without it, part of Pelister's most strictly protected zone remains hard to reach — exactly what made the rangers' job harder that night.

Park officials say cooperation with Bitola police on nature protection continues unchanged, and admit that intrusions into protected zones aren't rare, precisely because of the lack of regular oversight.

MKNews Hub · Macedonia · August 16, 2026