Osmani: South Tyrol model offers lessons for strengthening the Ohrid Agreement

In September, Bujar Osmani, vice president of the Democratic Union for Integration and former foreign minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, paid a working visit to South Tyrol. The visit focused on autonomy, power-sharing, guarantees for community rights and equality between languages.

During his stay, Osmani had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the specific mechanisms established by South Tyrol’s institutions to protect language rights, ensure proportional representation and include communities in institutional and public life.

He also visited the Office for Language Rights and Human Rights at the South Tyrol Parliament. The meetings held there covered the legal and institutional instruments that ensure the use of languages, the implementation of the principle of equality and the protection of community rights.

As part of the visit, Osmani also met with the president of the South Tyrol Parliament, Angelo Gennaccaro. Their discussion focused on how coexistence has been established in South Tyrol and the guarantees that institutions provide to language communities.

Gennaccaro explained the institutional features of this model and expressed his willingness to continue contacts and exchanges of experience in the future.

Another important stop was Eurac Research, a research center based in Bolzano. There, Osmani spoke with experts and researchers working on autonomy, governance and minority rights. The meetings addressed the legislation and mechanisms underpinning the South Tyrol model, including their development and practical implementation. The Autonomy Experience center within Eurac Research focuses specifically on South Tyrol’s autonomy, minority protection, and models of representation and governance.

Osmani said that South Tyrol represents one of Europe’s most firmly established models of autonomy, power-sharing and language equality. According to him, it is particularly important that these principles are not confined solely to the political sphere but are supported by constitutional, legal and institutional guarantees.

He said South Tyrol’s experience is particularly relevant to North Macedonia. Osmani explained that this experience should not be copied mechanically but should serve as a European example from which lessons can be drawn to strengthen coexistence, equality and community participation.

Referring to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, Osmani stressed that it created an important architecture for interethnic coexistence in North Macedonia. He said the case of South Tyrol demonstrates that the principles of coexistence remain inadequately protected in the absence of strong institutions, consistent enforcement of the law and clearly defined mechanisms for guaranteeing rights. For this reason, he said, the task is to protect and strengthen this architecture by advancing it in line with European standards.

The visit formed part of an interest in European models for managing diversity and in institutional experiences that could help strengthen cohesion, equality and stability in North Macedonia.