Talat Xhaferi: I'm not a technical prime minister, son. Knows the Constitution.

An important figure of the Northern Macedonia Albanian war for their rights, and today a prime minister tasked to deal equally with all his citizens, Talat Xhaferri, is faced with a difficult test, but one he takes over after a long period in the neighbouring country's political scene, which carved out his image of a cold and determined politician.

In an interview for Top Channel, the man who will lead the technical government, which will run the country by the May elections -- the first Albanian to take the reins of a Macedonian executive -- considers this part of a fact that Northern Macedonia already is no longer likely to be avoided.

“This is a reality of structural architecture of the composition of the North Macedonian population; it is a response of expectations in our claim to realise strategic definitions since the former Yugoslavia's adoption to be part of the European Union. And since definition is already for those values, I think that the act of nominating and electing the government in this composition that I am leading, is in fact responding to the fulfillment of a part of those institutional values, in which we even pretend to be part, so it's a matter of our constitutional status, as the constituent part of this state, and of course it's an answer to the right, obligation and responsibility to co-ordinate our affairs and achieve our strategic goals<1>, Xhafer said.

Northern Macedonia is a member of NATO, but efforts to join the EU stalled in the stalemate both because of the quality of governance and problems with the Bulgarian minority. The problem not only affects this country but can affect the European future of the entire region.

While explaining that identity definition is a matter guaranteed by the domestic constitution, as well as international conventions, Xhaferi speaks of the likelihood of constitutional changes, which could unblock the process.

The “Context and context is in terms of bilateral neighbourly reports between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia, which are also conditioned for our journey to the European Union. In pre-preparations and preliminary institutional procedures, we are in the initiative phase, now initiating the need for approval of the decision to approach constitutional changes, so that the right to apply and sanction the right of citizens, and specifically to those with a sense of belonging, in this case, Bulgarians and thus, to fulfill an aspect of the perspective of what is the opening of our path to our membership”, he said.

Another challenge for the first Albanian prime minister of northern Macedonia is the removal of Albanians, immigration in their ranks is higher than that of Macedonians. Such a battle with numbers, he sees more as a regional problem, but also as a kind of mind inherited from the past.

If there is a difference, that difference can be described as the pre-time aspect in the sense that in a period of 30 years ago and in the former Yugoslavia, it was stressed that Albanians usually fled, rather than Macedonians, or the larger peoples that were in the former Yugoslavia, and on that basis, it could be said that the largest number of citizens from Northern Macedonia who emigrated are Albanians respectively. But in the context of time, Macedonia of the last 20 years, especially from December 2009, when Macedonia's citizens were stripped of visas with the visa liberalisation system, in this last 10 years it has done its own, and the negative effects in that direction have given the”, Xhaferi added further.

These were not the consequences predicted by him, since it was expected that they would arrive with the free movement of people. As for the missing Albanian opposition votes at his voting session, there is a clarification of his status at the head of the government.

“My status is not technical because the government, on the basis of the Persinance Agreement as a political decision, has been conditioned with the amendments to the government's law that future governments from 2016 onward, be it premature or fair, on forming the government in the last 100 days of governance, will be added to the opposition's additional ministers to ensure compliance with the election results. The provisional notion, the technical notion does not exist in the law for government, nor in the constitution. ... does that mean we won't deal with other issues that arise apart from elections? So the technical term is just a popular term used outside what is the notion and true status of the government. The issue of determining the Albanian opposition factor, not that it did not vote for me, but unfortunately, is a repeat of similar cases in history”.

If we go further, historical data shows that in the creation of the Greek state, in 1821, and with the establishment of the Parliament, it has been the possibility of formalising the Albanian language in the Greek parliament. And it was not done for the vote of an Albanian member. History speaks these facts, they are historical facts. We go back to this newer story where we are; in 1998, parliamentary elections, then opposition LSDM and the rest of the opposition, had proposed the late Abdurrahman Haliti for parliament speaker in Macedonia. Unfortunately, the part that had won the elections and that became part of the VMRO-DPMNE-led parliamentary majority at the time did not support it, and unfortunately, to repeat the same situation currently... but the last word will give the historical context, I am focused on the work that is my competence...”, the prime minister said. /tch