Analysts: Kurti's statement could also mean diverting attention from the UN Security Council session

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, upon returning from Skopje, where he participated in a regional meeting of the Party of European Socialists, stated that he had not felt threatened despite information indicating that his security was jeopardized by "individuals and structures associated with official Belgrade," while Macedonian analysts point out that they do not have information indicating any threat to Kurti's security and suggest that this statement may have been made to divert attention from the recent UN Security Council session.

Ivica Bocevski, former Ambassador and former Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, is confident that Macedonian security forces and police are always up to the task when it comes to the security of Macedonian officials, with particular emphasis on foreign officials visiting the country, whether for a summit or a bilateral visit.

"No one should be harmed when they come to Macedonia. Therefore, I do not have access to the information available to the Prime Minister; he is far more informed than I am. However, in case of any danger to the life and integrity of any participant, our security authorities would react to eliminate that threat and inform through all channels, primarily bilaterally, and then in accordance with Macedonia's aspirations for NATO and EU membership," Bocevski told Kosovo Online.

He adds that the public is usually uninformed about the work of these services because their work is often invisible.

"When that becomes visible, unpleasant events occur," he noted.

Asked whether Kurti's statement after the UN Security Council session could serve to divert attention and shift responsibility to Belgrade, Bocevski says that since 2017 and the arrival of Zoran Zaev to power, Macedonia has been accustomed to "sticking its nose where it doesn't belong".

"It sticks its nose into Kosovo-Serbia issues, Serbian-Montenegrin issues, internal Bosnian issues, and so on. I hope that the period of Zaev's government will end and that Macedonia will finally embark on its path or be a pawn in any Balkan relations. Macedonia is a country that wants to develop good relations with all countries in the region, without anyone solving their problems at its expense," he says.

Zidas Daskalovski, a Professor at the Faculty of Security in Skopje, is also convinced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia has done its job well.

"The meetings that the Prime Minister of Kosovo had in Macedonia were held according to all security procedures. We also had a large OSCE summit last year, attended by major political forces, and foreign ministers who felt safe in Macedonia and Skopje. So, I think we can speak here of certain speculations or political maneuvering by Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti," Daskalovski stated for Kosovo Online.

He points out that "the atmosphere between Belgrade and Pristina is heated", and that what happened at the UN Security Council session was not favorable to Kosovo and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

"Generally, it's a matter of political pragmatism - whether you want to cover a defeat or negative news conditionally with some other specific information from another event, and here it is quite possible that he will use this information to conceal the negative elements that occurred at the session in New York," Daskalovski said.