Tijana Em: Border Stop Over a Few Thousand Dinars
The singer explained for the first time why she did not cross into North Macedonia for her Kriva Palanka concert. She also confirmed the end of a long relationship.
Singer Tijana Milentijevic, known as Tijana Em, explained on the evening of November 14, during a performance at a Belgrade venue, that unpaid fines kept her from crossing the border into North Macedonia. As a result, she missed her concert in Kriva Palanka, scheduled for the evening of November 13. In the same address to the media, she confirmed that she ended a long relationship several months ago.
How was the Kriva Palanka concert postponed?
The organizer, Events Makedonija, announced on its Instagram account that the show was postponed and that a new date would be set later. The singer then responded with a video on the organizer’s page, citing only administrative obstacles:
I’m reaching out to you, first of all, with a big apology. Tonight we were supposed to be together in Macedonia, in Kriva Palanka, but unfortunately, for administrative reasons, I won’t be able to cross the border
She repeated the message on her own Instagram profile, along with a note to her audience:
My dears, I’m sorry I can’t be with you tonight. Because of administrative reasons, I wasn’t able to cross the border. Thank you for your understanding and love. I hope we’ll see each other soon at a new date. Your Tijana Em loves you
What exactly was behind the “administrative reasons” she explained only a day later.
What did Tijana Em say about the fines?
According to her, the amount comes to a few thousand dinars. She says the fines were sent to an address where she no longer lives, so she knew nothing about them:
I didn’t pay a few thousand dinars, and I didn’t know it could cost me a performance. I have no insight into fines like traffic ones. I changed my place of residence and all those fines were sent to my old address. They couldn’t deliver them to me, I didn’t even know they existed and, like every time, I set off for the performance.
At the crossing itself, the singer says, she tried to settle the matter on the spot:
At the border they told me I couldn’t go any further because I hadn’t paid a fine. I asked what fine and whether I could pay right away, but it didn’t work that way. That’s the law and I have to respect it like all other citizens. So because of a few thousand dinars I couldn’t hold the performance
The border crossing is not named anywhere. It is also unclear whether she was stopped on the Serbian or the Macedonian side: in its November 14 headline, Telegraf writes that she was “not allowed to enter the country,” while she speaks only about the fine and about being told she could not go on.
The breakup she kept from the public
At the same performance, Tijana Em confirmed a piece of private news:
It’s true that we broke up a few months ago, I kept it hidden and now it has come out to the public.
Her former partner, she says, is still part of her band, and that was at her insistence:
We stayed on friendly terms and at my insistence he stayed in my band, as far as work goes we’ve sorted that out
She described the decision to part ways as mutual:
We both felt it was best for it to be this way at this point, to go our separate ways.
The new date for the Kriva Palanka concert, according to the organizer’s announcement, will be announced later.
