DUI: Police school competition results show exclusion of Albanians from security structures

The Democratic Union for Integration considers the composition of candidates admitted in the latest competition for the Secondary Police School alarming. According to the party, of the 310 candidates selected, only 11 belong to non-majority communities, including Albanians, Turks, Roma, Serbs and other communities, while Albanians account for less than 3 percent. DUI estimates that this composition does not fairly reflect the population structure of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The party stresses that the case should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but as evidence of a policy that is leaving Albanians out of state institutions, particularly those responsible for law and security.

DUI says that the symbolic representation of a sizeable community in the police cannot simply be explained as the failure of a single competition. In its view, this demonstrates a lack of will and mechanisms to ensure fair and adequate representation. The reaction states that the same situation is also affecting other non-majority communities, creating institutional supremacy and a monist approach in which one group acts as the owner of the state, while others are treated as second-class citizens and tenants in their own country.

“Such an approach is unacceptable in a multiethnic state and represents a rollback of achievements built over the years through the Ohrid Agreement and the reform of institutions,” DUI said.

DUI is calling for the immediate cancellation of the competition and the launch of a new process based on criteria that ensure genuine and adequate representation for all communities.

The party is also calling for immediate political accountability and the resignation of the deputy minister of the Interior. According to DUI, the formal presence of an official in this position cannot be used as a justification for excluding Albanians from institutions that should serve all citizens.

At the same time, DUI is calling for the establishment of clear, measurable and binding mechanisms for fair and adequate representation in the police, law enforcement and security structures, from recruitment through to leadership positions. It warns that the work built over the years must not be undone within two years, and that Albanians must not be reduced to institutional window dressing while decision-making and security structures become increasingly concentrated in one hand.

“This is not just about one competition or one individual. It concerns equality, the multiethnic character of the state and respect for the Ohrid Agreement. Albanians are not seeking privileges, but the representation they are entitled to, in accordance with the structure of the population. Any other alternative constitutes systematic exclusion and a dangerous rollback,” DUI said in its reaction.