Albanian League: In two years in government, VLEN implemented the “Macedonia Is Yours Again” platform and harmed Albanians

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the governing coalition OBRM-PDUMM-ZNAM-VLEN, the Albanian League led by Ziadin Sela issued a reaction, assessing that in this period two main objectives were fulfilled: the implementation of OBRM-PDUMM’s “Macedonia Is Yours Again” platform and the undermining of the Ohrid Agreement in its four fundamental pillars.

According to this reaction, VMRO-DPMNE has fulfilled almost all of the commitments made before the elections, while the Albanian partners in the executive, according to the party, have served as supporters of these policies.

“During these two years of OBRM-PDUMM–ZNAM-VLEN governance, two main objectives were achieved: the precise implementation of VMRO’s ‘Macedonia Is Yours Again’ platform and the destruction of the Ohrid Agreement in each of its four main pillars. OBRM-PDUMM managed to realize all of its pre-election promises and the points of its platform, starting with the violation of the legitimacy of Albanians as the first step that paved the way for every other action in the future,” the reaction states.

The Albanian League also recalls Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s promises to remove the mechanisms of the Ohrid Agreement, claiming that these have already been put into practice through Constitutional Court decisions and the Government’s legislative initiatives.

“Remember when OBRM-PDUMM and Prime Minister Hristian Mickoski pledged that they would remove the Balancer and Badinter. Through the Constitutional Court, he abolished the Balancer and, through the same court, is abolishing every law and decision that was adopted under the Badinter Principle. Remember when he said he would return the state and institutions to Macedonian hands. At first, they did this by dismissing thousands of Albanians from their jobs and from leadership positions, and now they are trying to do it through the draft law on fair and adequate representation, where ethnic representation is eliminated with ‘meritocracy,’ while the Badinter principle is replaced with a ‘small Badinter,’” the reaction emphasizes.

The reaction also says that during these two years, actions were taken against the use of the Albanian language, as well as against the decentralization process.

“They also went after the Albanian Language. They failed to abolish it through the Constitutional Court thanks to the resistance and protest of the opposition, but in practice they stopped its official use by forcing even Albanian officials to write documents in only one language. Most tragically, they forced them even declaratively to distance themselves from and deny the Albanian Language. By Government decision, during these two years the Albanian diaspora was erased and, as a result, the number of Albanian councilors was reduced, funds for municipalities from the state budget and from the Hungarian loan were cut, striking the pillar of decentralization in general and fiscal decentralization in particular. On this issue, Yugoslav and communist names were also reinstated, by overturning the decision of the Tetovo Municipal Council on Albanian names for squares and streets,” the reaction further states.

Ziadin Sela’s party assesses that with the abolition of the technical Government, the political legitimacy of Albanians in the process of forming power has also been affected.

“The technical Government was abolished and will no longer exist after the next elections. Although depoliticization and the prevention of state interference in elections did not happen, the situation has become even worse. Now, regardless of what the Albanian citizen says with their vote, the last government was formed by the will of the prime minister and not by the will of Albanians,” the reaction stresses.

In conclusion, the Albanian League directs direct accusations at VLEN, which it says has acted during its two years in government to the detriment of Albanian interests.

“Meanwhile, the Albanian ‘representatives’ without legitimacy in this Government, VLEN, have had only one role during these two years: that of vassal, relativizer and advocate of those who have violated and degraded Albanians. For a few armchairs and privileges, VLEN sold our children’s right to employment, their mother tongue and every other right that belongs to them in the land of their ancestors, making them feel like strangers,” concludes the reaction of the Albanian League on the occasion of the second anniversary of the governance of the OBRM-PDUMM-ZNAM-VLEN coalition.