The political crisis in Macedonia, the biggest since its independence, as well as the latest events in Kumanovo, cause great concern of the international community, whose representatives, despite different views regarding causes and consequences, believe that its solution can only be reached through peaceful means and dialogue.
According to the Macedonian media, Ivan Šimonović, assistant for human rights of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, arrived in Skopje yesterday, and he already met with the Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev.
In the search for a compromise, the Prime Minister and the leader of the most influential ruling VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski, and the leader of the SDSM, Zaev, have discussed overcoming the newly created situation three times in the last ten days, and their next meeting is scheduled for May 26.
The last one was on Monday in Strasbourg, with the mediation of the EP representative and the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, and the main conclusion from that meeting, which was leaked to the public, is that the dialogue between the two leaders must take place with full discretion.
However, after Strasbourg, Zaev sent a message that those talks could be said to have been successful and to give a chance to begin genuine negotiations on all issues, Nova TV announced.
Without presenting the details of the talks, Zaev claims that the international community will be involved in the negotiations of the leaders that are being held in Skopje, that is, that they will send their representative who will be the guarantor that everything agreed upon will be implemented.
In the meantime, the heads of diplomacy of Russia and Bulgaria, Sergey Lavrov and Danijel Mitev, as well as the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, spoke about the latest events in Macedonia.
Lavrov told reporters in the Russian parliament that "there is a danger of the division of Macedonia" between Albania and Bulgaria.
"Attempts are underway to accuse Nikola Gruevski's government of incompetence and of not fulfilling its obligations to the citizens, and many other things are attributed to him. But behind all this is the desire to influence him because of his refusal to add sanctions against Russia," Lavrov said.
Referring to relevant sources, Lavrov said that he has information that Gruevski was pressured because he once supported the South Stream gas pipeline in the interest of Macedonian citizens and the state.
"He is now showing a willingness to cooperate in connection with the implementation of other variants of the delivery of energy from Russia to the south of Europe, such as Turkish Stream. It is very unfortunate and dangerous that the Albanian factor is also used in order to achieve the goal of undermining Gruevski," said Lavrov.
Emphasizing that it is good that the conflict in Macedonia ended in 2001 with the signing of the Ohrid Agreement, Lavrov expressed concern that "talks are now underway to further federalize Macedonia, to implement a peaceful federalization or even a confederation. There are even ideas to divide into parts and that part belongs to Albania and part to Bulgaria".
The head of diplomacy of Bulgaria, Danije Mitov, reacted to this, saying that Lavrov's statements are frivolous, because throughout the "difficult path that the Republic of Macedonia was going through towards the establishment and strengthening of its state independence and sovereignty", Bulgaria was the one that gave the greatest support to the independence of the Republic of Macedonia. . Mitov emphasized that Bulgaria "was and will remain the guarantor of the territorial integrity of Macedonia".
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also made a statement about Macedonia, who conditioned his support for joining NATO with a guarantee for the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement.
Namely, Rama said that the events in Kumanovo were an unacceptable tragedy and that it was dangerous to mix the terms "terrorism" and "Albanians" which were identified in Macedonia, even though, in his words, ethnic Albanians are "an important state-building factor for Macedonia."
This was followed by a statement from the Macedonian MFA in which it is emphasized that Macedonia will continue to actively work on the constant strengthening of cooperation with all neighbors and partners in the interest of progress in the region.
And regarding the statements of politicians from the "neighborhood", that department defined the positions that were published on the official website, in which, among other things, it is said that Macedonia's main goal is to integrate into the EU and NATO, because this is in the interest of all Macedonians. citizens, for a better future, economic development, peace and stability in the region.
Inter-ethnic coexistence, and respect for cultural, ethnic and religious differences and human rights are the basis of Macedonian society and the constitutional system, he points out and adds, "we are all united together for the European future of the Republic of Macedonia.
Sincere cooperation and unequivocal support of our neighbors and international partners is therefore necessary, states the Macedonian MFA and adds that "all blockades, threats of blockades and statements offering excuses against our membership are not in the spirit of European values and do not contribute to peace and stability in the region.
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