Anger Over French Proposal Fails to Shake North Macedonia’s Ethnic Peace

However, Mickoski's accusation lost legitimacy when it turned out that the gunman, the angry owner of a hotel, was a supporter of the Alliance of Albanians, a partner party of his own VMRO-DPMNE.

Not a rally but a funeral

Unusual funeral procession in Tetovo. Photo: Twitter

On the weekend of July 2 and 3, some media and many social networks were flooded with claims that "people in KLA uniforms are parading through Tetovo and Gostivar", suggesting that this was a direct consequence of Osmani's statement.

"The event coincides with the statement from Saturday [June 2] by the Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, that non-acceptance of the French proposal carries risks of inter-ethnic tensions," a report on the national television channel Alfa TV said.

In 2001, North Macedonia suffered a short-lived armed conflict between ethnic-Albanian insurgents and the security forces. The town of Tetovo was particularly affected by the hostilities.

The conflict ended that year with an internationally brokered agreement which gave greater rights to Albanians, about a quarter of the total population, in return for the insurgents disarming, supervised by NATO.

Urim Hasipi, a Koha TV reporter from Tetovo whose footage was used as evidence of the parade of KLA uniforms through Tetovo, told BIRN that he was reporting from the funeral of a former KLA fighter who participated in the Kosovo conflict twenty years ago.

He said that mourners came from Kosovo as former comrades of the deceased, some in KLA veterans' uniforms, which are almost identical to those of the KLA with one difference - it is written on their backs that they belong to the Kosovo Association of Veterans.

He had been due to publish a...