Macedonian Community in Albania Wants to be Recognized

– March 16, 2014Posted in: Interviews / Opinions

Macedonian community throughout Albania should enjoy the same rights as Macedonians living in Pustec municipality, says Vasil Sterjovski, Secretary-General of the Macedonian Alliance for European Integration.

Sterjovski, as a representative of the Macedonian party in Albania, was a guest on the Albanian state television, talking about the rights of the Macedonian community in Albania, the Macedonian community activities , the education in the Macedonian language , the territorial division, the number of Macedonian community another ect.

More than 120,000 ethnic Macedonians live in Albania and they are mostly concentrated in the areas of Mala Prespa, Golo Brdo and Gora, but there are Macedonians living almost everywhere in the country. Sterjovski reminds that there is no official and accurate data on the number of Macedonians in Albania since the minority groups in the country boycotted the last census and they do not recognize its results .

Mountain areas of Prespa, Gora and Golo Brdo are populated with purely Macedonian population.

In the area of Prespa, Macedonians are officially recognized as a Macedonian minority and have the right to learn the Macedonian language in the municipal schools in the area. By law, 60 percent of the lectures should be in the Macedonian language, but that law is not observed currently since there is a shortage of textbooks in Macedonian language, Sterjovski said.

“One of our requirements is Macedonian community to be recognized anywhere in the Republic of Albania and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to be the implemented by Albania,” Sterjovski explains.

He reiterated the concerns of the Macedonian and the other communities in Albania regarding the draft-law on the new territorial division of Albania, which will incorporate the Macedonian municipalities with the Albanian ones, which would mean complete assimilation for the Macedonians.

“The authorities reassured us through the media that the municipality of Pustec as minority area will not be annexed, but we have no information what will happen with the municipalities in Gora and Golo Brdo. This week we have a meeting scheduled with the Minister for Local Government, Blendi Chuchi , during which we will raise all these issues. We will ask for at least the municipalities with majority Macedonian population to remain as they are,” he says. (Makedonium)