Osmani responds to VLEN: Diplomatic meetings are not political choices

Bujar Osmani, who previously held the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, has dismissed criticism from the VLEN coalition regarding his institutional meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, during the period when he led North Macedonia’s diplomacy.

In his response, Osmani emphasizes that VLEN is trying to turn regular diplomatic meetings into political stances, ignoring, according to him, that it is itself part of an executive where partners deny Kosovo’s statehood, minimize the Srebrenica massacre and the Ohrid Agreement.

“To be in VLEN today means to be truly hopeless, if you interpret the official meetings of a diplomacy chief as political orientations, while considering co-governance with others as normal,” Osmani wrote.

He underlined that talks with leaders of countries with which there are contradictions are routine in international relations, citing as an illustration the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and meetings of global leaders with counterparts from states with opposing positions.

According to the former minister, the role of a Foreign Minister is to defend national interests through dialogue channels, while forming government alliances is a purely political decision.

“Diplomatic meetings are a constitutional obligation. Co-governance is a political preference. These are two completely separate spheres,” he stressed.

Referring to the statement distributed by VLEN, Osmani clarified that this document is a press release from the Serbian Presidency, which, according to him, reflects Belgrade’s views and not those of North Macedonia’s institutions.

In closing his reaction, Osmani affirmed that he would continue to hold meetings with any counterpart in the exercise of his duty as Foreign Minister, but would never accept to co-govern with forces that deny Kosovo’s independence, minimize the genocide in Srebrenica, or violate the rights of Albanians.

Osmani’s response came after earlier in the day, VLEN made public a press release from the Serbian Presidency, accusing the former minister that during his tenure, discussions on issues had come to light that, according to this coalition, were not in the interest of Albanians.