Some stories are really nice, and after my visit to Vevcani in february 2007 I found this story about Vevcani from Arnout Bruins.

After the fall of Yugoslavia, the country falls in war, chaos and a lot of misery. A little village did hold bravely and is called Vevcani. It is situated in Macedonia by the border with Albania. Most of the inhabitants are Orthodox Christian, but most of the neighbors around Vevcani are Muslims, on the Balkans a receipt for problems  

In a self organized referendum in 1996 the people of Vevcani voted with 99 % for the "independent republic of Vevcani" and thereby declared independent from Macedonia.

The inhabitants are proud on their independence that helps them to keep peace, while the rest of the Balkans are in war. "We look radical, but we are focused that nobody manipulate us", sad Nenad Batkovski, the self declared consul of Vevcani in Skopje. Macedonia always ignored the claim of the inhabitants of Vevcani. For outsiders it is difficult to say of Vevcani is an independent country or not. The inhabitants claim the have weapons and munitions ready in case of....

In 1997 the mayor Vasil Radinovski was arrested. After a hunger strike and protests of the inhabitants he was released. "Our Muslim neighbours live in peace with Vevcani. The come for trade and the healthy springs" says Vasil Radinoski. Vevcani is now flourishing, compared to other "ghost villages" in Macedonia. "Macedonia can learn a lot of us, real democracy is based on freedom, not on ethnicity" says Vasil Radinovski.