Stoilkovic: Next year's elections crucial for North Macedonia and relations with Albanians

For North Macedonia, 2024 will be a challenging year, not only due to the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections but also for the further internal political stability regarding the pervasive factor of Albanization in political, public, and cultural life, Ivan Stoilkovic, president of the Democratic Party of Serbs in North Macedonia and a member of the Assembly, says for Kosovo Online.

The elections scheduled for next year in North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Romania will be closely monitored in Serbia, particularly in the context of the messages that electoral competitors send during the campaign regarding the Kosovo issue and the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the political course that newly elected authorities may adopt.

For North Macedonia, heading to the polls in April and May for presidential and parliamentary elections could determine the country's future, considering the relationship between the Macedonian and Albanian communities and its policy towards neighbors. This is especially relevant given the overt ambitions for "Greater Albania" by certain Albanian political parties that maintain a close relationship with Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Stoilkovic emphasizes that the elections next year will serve as a kind of referendum for all citizens, primarily the Macedonian people, where they need to answer whether they intend to preserve their country and their own identity.

"The answer to this question will determine the outcome of the elections or the result of the electoral process. My expectations are that identity and sovereign forces, currently led by VMRO-DPMNE, will win. In this sense, the only challenge that Macedonia faces is the behavior of Albanian political parties, as they have tried to exert greater influence on public and political life in the past period. In this regard, North Macedonia will be confronted with the question of whether it wants to maintain its almost binational structure or will try to preserve and build its multiethnic and multinational character in the coming period," our interlocutor believes.

He adds that the political bloc led by VMRO-DPMNE, not only according to pre-election polls but also based on the mood of the citizens, should receive majority support.

"A referendum-like atmosphere is slowly but surely emerging in North Macedonia. The elections should provide an answer to the question that troubles all citizens, namely, whether the Macedonian people want to preserve their country and identity. And also whether Macedonian political parties will allow themselves to continue being hostages to Albanian parties. I have no doubt about that, and I believe that the coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE will achieve a convincing victory," Stoilkovic says.