Skopje, Macedonia | Tirana Echo – Macedonia’s political leaders slam fiery comments by Albanian lawmaker Mesila Doda who claimed that “Macedonia does not exist, but is an old Albanian province called Illyrida”.
Doda who chairs the parliamentary group of the Party for Justice Integration and Unity (PDIU) made the comments during a visit to Diber which is a border area shared by Macedonia and Albania.
The comments have spurred a chain of reactions from Skopje. Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry was swift in condemning Doda.
“MFA condemns the public announcements with insulting and inflammatory rhetoric by officials from Albania that refer to the Republic of Macedonia. The irresponsible statements by officials, which position enforces a responsibility for the stated statement, are not in the spirit of good neighborly relations and the declared pledges for friendship and cooperation between two countries and aren’t in the spirit of the European values” said a statement by Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry.
Other political leaders have also joined the condemnations.
“We condemn the provocative rhetoric in the statement made by Albanian MP, Mesila Doda, while referring to the Republic of Macedonia, which is not in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and mutual respect between two neighbouring countries”, read the reaction from SDSM.
According to the party, such public events work in favour only for those who create divisions and work to encourage discord and intolerance, contrary to European values, which we strive to achieve.
However, in a Facebook status, Doda who is known for her fiery political comments saidthat Macedonia’s existence did not make any sense.
“I’m reading that Skopje wants to declare me ‘non-grata’. No worries. For me, a state which has no basis of existence, is as unacceptable. Skopje is also non-grata for me and has seized being a lab for albanophobia” – said Doda which has added to recent tensions between Macedonia and Albania.
Earlier in the month, Macedonia’s President Gjorge Ivanov argued that a common platform signed in Albania in January by three of his country’s ethnic Albanian parties endangers Macedonia’s sovereignty and independence.
Doda, a former democratic party MP leads the parliamentary group of the PDIU or the ‘Tcham Party’ chaired by Shpetim Idrizi which seeks compensation of its ethnic Tcham population expelled from Greece after the 2nd world war. Its latest rhetoric has increased relations between Greece and Albania during the last year.
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