Selmani, 25 Years After the Ohrid Agreement: Albanians Still Do Not Have Full Legal Equality

A quarter of a century after the signing of the Ohrid Agreement, political parties in the country continue to have differing assessments of the results and benefits the agreement has brought to Albanians.

Experts in the field regard the Ohrid Agreement as a document that has produced significant progress, but one that is not without shortcomings. University professor Bashkim Selmani told TVM2 that Albanians should demand rights and obligations commensurate with their contribution to the state. According to him, the factual and legal reality of Albanians in North Macedonia are still not fully aligned.

Selmani described the agreement as an important starting point for the future of Albanians and the state of Macedonia, but stressed that its failures and legal priorities must also be analyzed. He underscored that every agreement should contain three elements and that, after its implementation, legal security and a monitoring mechanism must be guaranteed. According to the professor, Albanians were not sufficiently attentive in interpreting the legal section of the agreement, through which they were included in international conventions as minorities, despite being an indigenous people. Selmani considered this a fatal failure for the future of the Albanian nation.

He said the main shortcomings are related to legal equality, economic equality and the indigenous status of Albanians.

The professor called for Albanians’ human rights and freedoms to be complete, at 100 percent. According to him, the level of rights and obligations should correspond to what Albanians contribute and pay to the state, since the current situation does not match the factual and legal reality. Selmani added that Macedonians should also have a clear right to interpret issues they consider to be in their interest.

Selmani also assessed that Macedonia and Macedonians were freed from Russian and Slavic influence, while Bulgaria and Greece had also made claims against them. According to him, these developments were also made possible by the geographical position of Albanians.

In conclusion, he said that Albanians and Macedonians must understand the importance of the state’s joint functioning and development, abandoning claims that it belongs to only one community. /tvm2