Petition Seeks to Cancel Karleusa's Skopje Concert
In North Macedonia a petition is calling for Jelena Karleusa's October 17 concert at Skopje's Jane Sandanski arena to be scrapped, accusing her of undermining religious values.
- A social media petition is calling for Jelena Karleusa's concert in Skopje, set for October 17 at the Jane Sandanski arena, to be canceled.
- Signatories claim the singer allegedly undermines religious values and promotes satanism.
- Part of the public has come to her defense with messages that "Macedonians love Karleusa."
- Similar petitions were raised earlier in 3 cities, Sarajevo, Subotica and Sombor, yet she still performed in Subotica and Kikinda.
Jelena Karleusa is once again at the center of a regional row. A petition circulating on social media in North Macedonia this week demands the cancellation of her concert scheduled for October 17 at the Jane Sandanski arena in Skopje. The initiative was launched just a few months before the show, and the number of signatures is climbing by the day.
Those who signed claim the singer allegedly undermines religious values and accuse her of promoting satanism through her stage act. These are arguments that resurface across the region every time Karleusa announces a performance outside Serbia, and for now the organizers have changed neither the date nor the venue.
Why is the backlash flaring up now?
The timing is no accident. Karleusa recently returned to the stage with new songs and music videos after a months-long break during which she withdrew from public life. The comeback was loud, wrapped in the provocative aesthetic her audience expects, so the announcement of the Skopje concert instantly became a talking point.
Part of the Macedonian public, however, does not share the outrage of the petition’s authors. In the comments beneath posts about the ban, messages of support pile up, with remarks that “Macedonians love Karleusa” and that they should be grateful she is coming at all. In this way, a single concert has opened a much broader debate about who gets to decide what audiences are allowed to watch and hear.
The petition on its own carries no legal power to cancel the event. It is above all pressure on the organizers and local authorities, and whether it has any effect will depend on how loudly it echoes through Macedonian media and institutions by autumn.
Not the first time a storm has broken
For Karleusa, situations like this are hardly new. Similar petitions against her performances were raised earlier in Sarajevo, Subotica and Sombor, with almost identical accusations about undermining values and inappropriate content. Even then, the uproar did not always mean cancellation. The singer went on to perform in Subotica and Kikinda, in front of audiences who showed up despite the objections of one part of the public.
The pattern is familiar: a concert is announced, a wave of objection follows, then a petition, and finally a show that most often goes ahead anyway. What sets the Skopje case apart this time is that opposition and support are running almost neck and neck, on the very networks where the petition itself began.
There is still time before October 17, and Karleusa has not publicly commented on the Skopje initiative so far. Do you think the petition will actually lead to the concert being canceled, or is this just another episode in a long line of storms that follow every performance she gives?
