Nikovski: The protest in Skopje in support of KLA leaders will create interethnic tensions

The protest in Skopje announced for tomorrow, in support of former KLA leaders who are on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity and war crimes, will create interethnic tensions in the country, analyst Risto Nikovski says.

Nikovski tells Kosovo Online that there is no reason for holding such a protest in Skopje.

“First, it is an anti-Macedonian act that de facto creates unease and opens crisis periods. In general, it is a Greater Albanian move, because it is obviously more important to Albanian leaders than anything else. It also creates interethnic animosity, because, as I say, first and foremost, what they are doing has nothing to do with Macedonia. Every element argues against holding such an event in Skopje. However, as I say, the Albanians are pushing their own line. Albanian issues are more important to them than anything else, and that is the reality we have to live with,” Nikovski says.

He believes that interethnic tensions will once again be created.

“You can be sure that the imagery that will appear there will not be in the interest of the Macedonian state, nor of any sort of Balkan peace and order. On the contrary, it is actually an act against justice. And it is good that in the end the court in The Hague, after pursuing, monitoring and prosecuting cases from Serbia and from Macedonia, has now also reached the Albanians. This move by DUI shows their constant fear that their turn will come too. There were four Macedonian cases that were in The Hague, but they were returned to Macedonia again for political reasons, because the Hague Tribunal is to a large extent political. Through political pressure, DUI managed to relativize them to a kind of amnesty. However, one of those four cases was the command responsibility of Ali Ahmeti, the leader of DUI. We hope that this case will one day be returned and prosecuted again, because such crimes do not expire. It is unacceptable for something like this to be held in Macedonia, because it undermines the peace and stability of the state. But, as I say, the Greater Albanian tendencies of Albanian leaders, whether here, in Kosovo, in Albania, or in southern Serbia, and even in Montenegro though to a lesser degree, are pronounced and are evidently continuing,” Nikovski says.