The loud silence of Bujar Osmani and DUI

Aleksandar Nikoloski

It’s been a week since I publicly asked Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration, Bujar Osmani, whether it was is true that there was an agreement with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Ditmir Bushati, according to which the reforms in Macedonia should be deliberately blocked, and not fully implement plan 3-6-9, in order for the disastrously low level of reform in Albania not look like such a catastrophe, so Macedonia and Albania could remain in the same group for EU membership. It is known that every next enlargement of the EU will be in a group in which, of course, there will be more states. One group is Serbia and Montenegro, the second is Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first group has serious prospects because it is already negotiating and have a specific motive in the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans, which is to become members after 2025, while for the second group there is no such clear perspective. Macedonia is somewhere between the two groups. Namely, for Macedonia, it is crucial to resolve the name issue in order to remove the political obstacle in the form of a Greek veto. Then, Macedonia is expected to join Serbia-Montenegro, and taking into account the level of reforms implemented so far as the first candidate country for EU membership of the entire region, and the potentials of Macedonia are expected to overtake Serbia-Montenegro. But this does not appeal to the strategists of Tirana who are trying to realize an impossible mission – on the one hand, to remove Albania from the group with Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on the other hand not to implement the necessary reforms. The way these strategists have found is to form a new group composed of Macedonia and Albania. Tirana is aware that Macedonia is far ahead of Albania but considered two factors – first that there will be no agreement on the name issue for some time, and secondly, the reforms in Macedonia will be slowed down.

For the second encountered on fertile ground – everyone knows that the main feature of this government is incompetence, the government is completely incapable of delivering essential reforms in key areas, primarily in the chapters 23 and 24, that is the rule of law and the fight against corruption. The second factor is the personal aspect, namely, Albania finds an excellent partner in the DUI party that would help in the realization of this strategy. Their staff is in both key departments – the departments for the European Integration and the Ministry of Justice. Both departments put a serious brake on reforms. This is noticed by the EU and therefore the resignation of the current Justice Minister is not due to the explanation given by him – it is the abuse of a tragedy and the loss of a young life, but its complete inability and the lack of will to deliver essential reforms. In the part of the sector for European integrations, the lack of initiative or desire to deliver, the lack of serious pressure on the institutions, as well as the lack of coordination to deliver substantive reforms, does not lead to a catastrophically low level of implementation of reforms written in this plan 3-6- 9. The level of realization according to the Government itself is 42%, which is the worst performance of Macedonia ever seen.

All this has been agreed between Bujar Osmani and the foreign minister of Albania Bushati, my sources reveal. Is that so, I asked for an answer from Osmani who has been silent for a week now. That loud silence only shows that the information is true! If we add the coordination between Osmani and Bushati not to go to an EU conference in Bosnia to this, just because Kosovo was not invited, shows that this couple works! And then I put a question to which I did not get an answer, then I asked Zaev and now I will repeat the question – Bujar Osmani is the Deputy Prime Minister for Euro integration only of the Albanians in Macedonia or all citizens? If Kosovo or Albania does not advance to the EU and are not invited to forums where Macedonia is invited, we will stop progressing, or will Macedonia not accept membership in the EU just because Albania and Kosovo will not be there?

When it comes to Albania, I will only say that I miss the strategy – if I were in their place, the energy would be spent on work and reforms, and not on the creation and realization of transparent games from which the Albanians and Albania receive nothing. While it is clear to us, it is this DUI’s dual policy on one hand, robbing its Albanian people on a daily basis, terrorizing it by creating local sheriffs, without which no one can do anything, they don’t carry out any projects, a few people are rich, while the majority Albanian work in Switzerland or Germany, and then send a franc or euro to their families in Kicevo, Gostivar, Lipkovo, Debar or Tetovo to survive, and on the other hand, it sells to Albanians big stories as an artificial new to the use of language or patriotic game in favor of Albania. This irresistible reminiscent of that story where the persuasive manipulator tells stories about the great future of the poor man and shows him to the distance as a beautiful future that awaits him, and while the poor man looks at the distance and imagines that future, the sweet-talking manipulator steals the last one left from the poor man. Unfortunately, this is he truth about the DUI and the Albanian people in Macedonia, where DUI is the sweet-talking manipulator, and the Albanian people are the poor man who awaits the beautiful future.