Macedonia Albanians Squabble Over Joint Platform

The ethnic Albanian parties involved in organizing a planned roundtable of Albanian leaders, which is designed to oversee fulfillment of the objectives of the parties' joint declaration, have traded blamed over its failure to take shape.

Only Ali Ahmeti, leader of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, and the parties that make up the Alliance for Albanians showed up at the meeting on Saturday initiated by Ziadin Sela, head of the Movement for Reforms - Democratic Parties of Albanians.

Another party, Besa, said that the meeting was not held in the spirit of the joint declaration and the timing was wrong.

Sela and Ahmeti said it was crucial for Albanians to take a united stance on a proposed law extending official use of the Albanian language, which the parties have set as a condition for their participation in any new Macedonian government. 

But, in a sign of growing friction between them, Besa has accused both the DUI and Alliance for Albanians of trying to score political points ahead of looming local elections.

"Regarding the Albanian parties' roundtable, we have made clear that we will not accept a meeting initiated by the leader of DUI," Besa told BIRN referring to Ahmeti.

"He is responsible for Besa losing two MPs' seats [in the December 11 elections] that went to [Macedonia's main ruling party] VMRO DPMNE, a party that has implemented anti-Albanian policies for 15 years," it said.

"That's why he has no legitimacy to represent the Albanians and is not fit to convoke a meeting of Albanian parties in Macedonia," Besa told BIRN.
 
Besa said it is also not planning to delegate two representatives to the commission, as agreed at Saturday's leaders' meeting, which would coordinate the Albanian parties...