The leader of DUI, Ali Ahmeti, revealed that before the signing of the Ohrid Agreement, a proposal to divide Macedonia had been put on the table.
He said that such a move would have brought severe consequences.
Ahmeti emphasized that the proposal came from the then Macedonian government led by Ljubčo Georgievski, but it was rejected because, according to him, it would have led to war over territories and massive population displacement.
“We accepted the peaceful Ohrid Agreement as the better solution, indeed a compromise, but the other option was not fortunate, it was not good. It would have been painful for both Macedonians and Albanians, because the proposal for the division of Macedonia was put on the table by the Macedonian government, led by Prime Minister Georgievski. However, it was not the best solution—it would have caused much greater clashes. It would have taken many human lives, because the war would have been fought over territories.
That proposal defined that from the 30% Albanian population in the Republic of Macedonia, they would be confined to a territory of only about 5–6%, mainly Tetovo, Gostivar, and my birthplace Zajaz and Oslomej, but without Kičevo, Struga, Skopje, Kumanovo, Prespa, Bitola, Veles, or Ohrid. It would have been painful for both sides. Around 260,000 Albanians would have had to be expelled from their lands, and about 60,000 Macedonians would also have been displaced from areas where Albanians were the majority. The pain would have been the same for both sides,” he said on A2 CNN.
According to Ahmeti, the best solution remained the Ohrid Agreement, despite being a compromise that did not fully satisfy either side. He recalled that the agreement brought significant progress for Albanians, such as the legalization of the Tetovo University, increased representation in institutions, and broader use of the Albanian language.
“I do not regret it, because I did not cause greater suffering to either Albanians or Macedonians. I did not cause pain, and I do not regret this decision. The agreement brought considerable progress. The University of Tetovo was legalized. The Albanian language began to be used in state institutions—the presidency, the government, the parliament—everything started functioning also in Albanian.
Communication materials began to be produced after the law on language use was approved, as previously the use of the language was limited. Albanians progressed in administration from 2%, 1%, 0.5%, or 5% representation in institutions to about 21–22%. After the law was adopted, all central institutions had signage in Albanian, ministries included, and communication with municipalities began in both languages, including Albanian.
According to the signed agreement, guaranteed by the United States, Europe, and NATO, any language spoken by over 20% of the population in the Republic of Macedonia (then the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) is an official language, and its alphabet is used at all levels of state institutions, as defined by law. Over 15 years, we have not closed the language law—we have advanced it and made further progress,” he emphasized.
