There's one sentence every citizen has heard at least once from some official: „That's not within my jurisdiction." Now, according to the opposition party Levica, the same sentence was uttered by the mayor of Struga when it came to the racket on the beaches along the shore of Lake Ohrid.

At the last session of the Struga municipal council, the mayor Kira, Levica claims, scandalously stated that he has no mechanism to remove the people who have for years been illegally occupying the beaches and charging for them. In other words - the problem exists, citizens see it every summer, but the municipality's top official claims his hands are tied.

The question Levica raises, and rightly so, is simple: if the mayor isn't responsible for what happens on the public spaces in his own municipality, then who is? The lake's beaches are not no-man's-land - they are public property, and their usurpation means someone is taking money where they have no right to, while the institutions look the other way.

This is the classic Balkan model of dodging responsibility: when things work, everyone wants a photo op; when a problem shows up, suddenly nobody is responsible. The lake is under UNESCO protection, yet its shore has for years been turning into a private cash register for those who know how to work the system. How many more summers have to pass before someone finally admits they are „responsible"?