Macedonia Albanians Rally Against Government

Chanting slogans against the heads of Macedonia's ruling parties, several thousand ethnic Albanians rallied on Friday in Skopje at a protest organized by Albanian associations and small political parties.

Protestors chanted "Down with the Regime", "Down with Gruevski" leader of the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, and "Down with Ahmeti", referring to the head of the junior ruling ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI.

The protest was organized by the so-called Association of Former Political Prisoners and Persecuted Albanians from Macedonia, the Association of War Veterans from the National Liberation Army, OVL-UCK, the Movement for Reforms inside the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, as well as by the National Democratic Rebirth party, RDK.

"We are protesting for a bi-national state and for two official languages [Macedonian and Albanian]," Zijadin Zela, head of the movement for reforms inside the opposition DPA, said.

As his words indicated, the protest was not only aimed at the government but also against the Macedonian state as it has existed for the past 25 years, which many Albanians consider discriminatory.

The peaceful protest, which started in the Albanian-dominated municipality of Cair, moved slowly through Skopje and ended in front of the parliament in central Skopje.

Protesters also drove several vehicles with banners saying "Albania, where are you?" and "Stop the politically driven [court] processes."

The protesters also called for the rule of law and the depoliticization of state institutions that they say particularly discriminate against Albanians who make up a quarter of the Macedonian population of 2.1 million.

The Albanian protest comes against a backdrop of an...