Albanian Law highlights ethnic differences in Macedonia

But connoisseurs of interethnic issues do not believe in any escalation of the situation.

“Incidents like this we've had before. Incidents we've had between the government coalition partners themselves, if you remember the cases in Skopje Castle, Jersey Petrove district, and so on. What happens now I appreciate is the response of those who feel lonely, because they are now losing power and facing judicial procedures, so they find it hard to give up and also trigger various incidents. I think this will have no consequences on the interethnic reporting plan, as in recent years they have improved even though they still remain fragile. That is what politicians try to exploit, but I believe it will not succeed”, says Vlado Dimovski of the Centre for Interethnic Tolerance.

These acts have preceded the incidents in the Assembly on the day of opposition VMRO's adoption of the Law, which forcedly attempted to prevent the act of voting due to the parliamentary majority's refusal to review more than 35 thousand opposition amendments with which it aimed at blocking the law.

EU policy officials say that VMRO through such actions aims to draw attention to the judicial processes that are developing to its leaders, but also estimates that its approach is closer to Eastern politics than to European ones.

“For the Albanian side of the law is an act that brings money to relations between Albanians and Macedonians, which means Albanians begin to sense Macedonia as their own state. Meanwhile, for one part of the Macedonian side, which is close to Belgrade and Moscow, as it is to Gruevski's VMRO and (Nicola), this law is unacceptable. This law does not believe there will be protests, but I think Gruevski and Mijalkov are coming to an end, and I think that their arrest and some Albanian collaborators, who terrorised the citizens of Macedonia, should end up behind bars, as I think that only then can justice be decided in the country and those who over these years have abused the state and power should end up in prison”, says Arsim Sinani, a political expert.

Analyst Mitko Gageovski says empowering the Law on Languages will not pass so easily, and that will, however, cause other reactions, but not to the extent of any possible escalation. He says the opinion is clear that even VMRO when in power with DUI adopted legal solutions that opposed the LSDM, which was at the time in opposition.

“Vlerating that VMRO's behaviour is duplicable, since when they were in a coalition with DUI, they left their hands free to the Albanian party, which is now in power with the LSDM, to pass legal solutions disputed by the then opposition. Here I could mention The Hague cases which were amnised by VMRO despite numerous reactions to the opinion. So, if we do a parallel between that case and this one on the language, we can see that the response as a single goal has the benefit of the” political points, Gageovski says.

The law, meanwhile, has not been decreed by President Gjorge Ivanov with the reasoning that it is unconstitutional and as such, fosters interethnic tensions, but the ruling parties have reminded the head of state that, with the failure to accept the law, it is in opposition to Article 75 of the Constitution, which imposes the decree of laws if after the first rejection the same vote is again voted by majority in the Assembly.

The adopted law advanced the official use of Albanian language to all local and central-level institutions, as well as in all inscriptions of institutions. / REL