Rama stings Kurt: Interventions in Northern Macedonia Target Destability

Prime Minister Edi Rama, from Ali Ahmeti's honour ceremony as Honorary Citizen at the Municipal Council of Tirana, spared no comment on the recent presidential interventions in Northern Macedonia and the political position of Albanians. The prime minister said Albanians would not be today on their best day in the history of Northern Macedonia, as much as to allow themselves to ignore the risk of fighting for more power, thus underestimate the possibility of political weakening the Albanian factor.

Rama did not last long on this issue, saying he does not want his opinion on this point to be commented as an intervention in elections in northern Macedonia. This comment by Prime Minister Rama seems like a losing point for Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who is accused of interference in elections held in Macedonia for the new president.

North Macedonia's “Albanians would not be today on their best day in that country's history, nor would they have a democratic pluralism as dynamic within the perimeter of the Albanian parties' lives as to allow themselves to ignore the risk of drowning in the water spoon for more power, underestimating the real possibility of political weakness in the Albanian factor. This may be the case, but it's not the time for me to discuss further what I said because I don't want a full expression of my opinion today to be read as an intervention in the neighbouring country's election campaign, where we have no intention to influence the decision of electors of that country, even of Albanians”, Rama said.

Rama further had a message for all Albanians, saying they should choose the interest of Northern Macedonia and protect their position from external influences aimed at instability and the destruction of Albanian achievements.

“I say you see only of Northern Macedonia, which is now more than ever their own, side by side with their fellow Macedonians and with all the minorities living in that Republic and protecting their Republic as well as their position as Albanians by outside influences that target things that are aimed at the stability and well-being of the neighbouring state and that in no case can bring anything better than they have achieved, but it can cause harm to those for what have been achieved, Rama said.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has been widely accused in the media of interfering in Macedonia's presidential elections, while analysts have commented on Kurti's positions as a move to strike Ali Ahmeti's position in Macedonia and Verui.

“S first he wants to defract Ali Ahmeti, the veteran politician who would receive historical merits if he would keep the Albanian factor united in the battle. His obsession with getting the former UCK leaders out of politics stems from one side of the inferiority he has for their country in history and on the other from the deliry that is about to become an Albanian world leader in the former Yugoslavia, following the shameful failure in Albania”, wrote Mero Base in a 25 April article.

A Kurt meeting with Albanian opposition party coalition “VLEN” prompted these reactions. On lists of this coalition, Kurti has even introduced candidates for MPs from the Vetevendosje Movement ranks. In the presidential elections, Albanians ruled dividedly, with DUI's Bujar Ottoman, who received 120.803 votes and Arben Taravari, V candidate LEN with 83,307 votes. If Albanians had run with one figure, for the first time in the history of northern Macedonia they could go to the runoff, marking a new stage of their factorisation in the neighbouring state.

Meanwhile, another Kurti visit on August 11th 2023 sparked reactions where Kurti was named a partitioner of Albanians in Northern Macedonia, where he paid an informal visit only with representatives of two opposition parties and avoided DUI, the largest Albanian party there. /reportv/