DUI: Tetovo did not defend the 2007 act on Albanian names for streets and the square

The Democratic Union for Integration has expressed a sharp reaction following the statement by Constitutional Court judge Osman Kadriu regarding the Constitutional Court’s decision that revoked the Albanian names of streets, squares, and boulevards in Tetovo, restoring the names from the Yugoslav period.

According to DUI, what Kadriu stated represents a serious cause for concern about the way the entire case was handled by the Constitutional Court.

In the party’s full reaction, it is stated that the statement by Constitutional Court judge Osman Kadriu, given after the decision to remove the Albanian names of streets, squares, and boulevards in Tetovo and restore the names from the Yugoslav period, constitutes a deeply troubling indication of how this process unfolded.

As judge Kadriu himself made known, the Municipality of Tetovo did not defend its 2007 decision and did not present the necessary arguments before the Constitutional Court.

Likewise, according to him, the Government did not provide any concrete response and did not take any action to defend this act.

The statement also says that the decision was made through ethnic outvoting, with two Albanian judges and one Turkish judge left in the minority.

If these claims prove to be accurate, then according to DUI, this amounts to a threefold institutional failure.

The party considers it unacceptable that the Municipality of Tetovo failed to defend a historic decision which for nearly two decades has been part of the city’s urban and institutional identity.

Equally unacceptable, according to them, is the Government’s silence in the face of an issue that directly affects interethnic relations, the multiethnic character of the state, and the spirit of the Ohrid Agreement.

DUI assesses that it remains deeply concerning that issues of high ethnic and political sensitivity are decided through the logic of ethnic outvoting, which, according to the party, undermines trust in the institutions that are supposed to guarantee equality and coexistence.

In the end, DUI stresses that citizens deserve clear answers as to why the Municipality of Tetovo did not defend its decision, why the Government remained silent, and how an issue with such major consequences for Albanians was allowed to remain without any institutional protection.