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– US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar with Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani in Skopje.
The small Albanian party Alternative is entering the new governing majority of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Social Democratic Union with three ministerial seats.
That was one of the tasks for which Zaev remains in power, after announcing his resignation from both the prime minister’s office and the party’s leadership over the defeat of local elections in October.
The leader of “Alternative” Afrim Gashi had several meetings with Zaev in recent days, and after yesterday’s signature and agreement.
With that, the SDSM majority is actually a little bigger than the previous one, lost with the departure of Besa, another smaller ethnic Albanian party. The largest in the Albanian bloc, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), is the union’s main partner, left without the support of a majority in parliament because of Besa. A no-confidence vote last month, however, failed to topple Zaev’s government.
Zaev has confirmed that he will step down from the party with the election of the next SDSM chairman on December 12th, and will remain prime minister for several more weeks, pending the outcome of a dispute with Bulgaria blocking northern Macedonia’s European integration.
US support
Ever since announcing his resignations, Macedonian politicians have been talking about the possibility of a breakthrough on December 14th at the European Council, although Bulgaria continues to insist that Northern Macedonia must meet a number of conditions first. Nevertheless, Skopje sees an opportunity for change.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, who is from DUI, today statedthat Skopje is working for December 14th, but is aware that this is not a deadline for resolving the dispute and reaching a compromise. Yesterday Zaev pointed outthat even if no solution is found on that date, he believes in the need for this to happen very soon, because it will hardly be possible in 2022.
“It’s a matter of weeks. This is the most positive period to find a solution. The most important thing for me is the Euro-Atlantic path and what started with Bulgaria. We are at the end, at the photo finish, and it can’t stay that way.”
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Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia
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Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar, who is holding talks on the Western Balkans, came to Skopje today to support the Macedonian government. At a meeting with Osmani, Escobar said the United States was in favor of rapid integration of northern Macedonia and talks should begin as soon as possible.
Escobar assured that the United States “is working with European partners for the rapid integration of northern Macedonia.”
His remarks followed a call from the US Congress Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia to find a solution within weeks.
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