North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani stated in an interview with journalist Esmeralda Mulaj on Euronews Albania that for the first time, decisions regarding North Macedonia are made in Skopje by Macedonians and Albanians side by side.

Historically, decisions regarding North Macedonia were made in Belgrade and sometimes in Pristina or Tirana.

“There is a misunderstanding both in Albania and Kosovo when we go there as Albanian officials; we are seen as if we are only defenders of Albanian rights. We are leaders of the state there; we are masters in our own house. I am the Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, and today, the official stance towards Kosovo is that we support the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue with the aim of mutual recognition,” said Osmani.

He characterized the relationships with the two Albanian prime ministers, Albin Kurti and Edi Rama, as correct and institutional, emphasizing that as foreign minister, he will cooperate with the leader who represents the will of the nation.

Osmani praised the Albanian prime minister for his stance towards Albanians in North Macedonia, calling for unity without holding any sides. According to him, Albanians in North Macedonia do not need patronage but cooperation since they are masters in their own house.

“Our relationship with Rama is fundamental and correct. He has held another principle; he has called for unity but has not taken sides. We are not a minority in North Macedonia; today, we have the post of the prime minister, the foreign minister. There should be no patronage; we need cooperation, but we are masters of our house. If we start with political interventions, we disrupt the ethnic and political relations that make Albanians decisive; balances are disrupted,” said Osmani.

Osmani, who is also a candidate for president in the upcoming North Macedonian elections, also discussed the political situation in the neighboring country.

Osmani said that the aim of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) was for Albanians to enter the race with a single candidate for the presidential elections, but this was not realized due to the division of the Alliance for Albanians and Arben Taravari’s candidacy.

Osmani declined to comment when asked if it was Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who pushed Arben Taravari to run.

North Macedonia’s top diplomat emphasized that Albanians’ relations with the United States are sacred, and no one should touch them.

“I’m not concerned with those matters; I am the Foreign Minister of North Macedonia. When I took office as Foreign Minister, I found North Macedonia’s position towards Kosovo like this: ‘We support the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue aiming at normalization’. Today, North Macedonia has officially changed its position to: ‘We support the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue aiming at mutual recognition’. This is a serious change in North Macedonia’s stance. I might be folkloric, but I need to be in direct daily contact with [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken and [EU’s chief diplomat Josep] Borrell, and I have done that. There is nothing more sacred for Albanians than maintaining partnership with the United States; everything else is folklore. The Albanian anthem says ‘whoever betrays the fight is a traitor’, I would add another sentence, ‘whoever damages the relationship with the United States does the greatest harm to Albanians’,” said Osmani.

In addition to Osmani, eight other candidates have announced their candidacies for the presidential elections, but so far, only he, Stevo Pendarovski, the current president and candidate of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Arben Taravari, the candidate of the united Albanian opposition, Biljana Vankovska from the Left party, and Maksim Dimitrievski from the ZNAM Party (For Our Macedonia) have collected the necessary 10,000 signatures to participate in the electoral race.

The opposition party VMRO-DPMNE will announce the candidacy of Biljana Siljanovska-Davkova on Saturday, March 2.

The deadline for submitting candidacies for the presidential elections expires on March 8.

Presidential elections in North Macedonia will be held in two rounds, the first on April 24, and the second round will be held together with parliamentary elections on May 8.