Albanian MPs boycott parliamentary session in Skopje held for Ukraine's independence

About ten ethnic Albanian members of North Macedonia's parliament did not attend a special session held to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, in a boycott prompted by recent remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The absent MPs are members of the cross-party parliamentary group for support of the Crimean Platform, which counts 41 deputies from all parliamentary parties; roughly ten of those are ethnic Albanians or representatives of smaller communities. None of the ten attended the session in the Assembly.

Assembly Speaker Afrim Gashi, who serves as chair of the interparliamentary group, was also absent; Vice‑President of the Assembly Antonio Milososki opened the session instead and delivered the introductory address. Ukrainian Ambassador to North Macedonia Larisa Dir personally thanked Gashi and Milososki for allowing the event to take place in the Assembly.

Some foreign ambassadors who participated in the session noticed the absence of the ethnic Albanian MPs. It remains unclear whether the nonattendance was an organised boycott or, as some deputies told journalists, due to being on holiday or not having been informed about the meeting.

Protest after Zelensky's Belgrade remarks

The boycott was linked to remarks President Zelensky made during a visit to Belgrade, when he said that Kyiv will not recognise Kosovo's independence. That statement angered Kosovar authorities and prompted the removal in Pristina of a large Ukrainian flag that had been flown on a high-rise as a sign of support during the war in Ukraine.

Riad Shaqiri, a parliamentarian from the Alliance for the Albanians, confirmed he intentionally stayed away from the session. "At the very moment when Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that Kosovo is part of Serbia, he cannot have our support. As a sign of protest I decided not to come to the session on Ukraine's independence in the Assembly, nor will I in the future participate in any event or commemoration related to Ukraine," Shaqiri said.

Members of the ruling party VREDE were also absent: besides Speaker Afrim Gashi, Kaltrina Beqiri and Saranda Imeri Stafa did not attend. VREDE officials said Zelensky's comment left a bitter taste for the party, which nevertheless supports the Ukrainian people's cause for freedom and sovereignty but objects to the Belgrade statement about Kosovo.

Deputies from DUI told reporters their members were on holiday and denied an organised boycott; absent from the session were coordinator Rina Ajdari and MPs Blerim Beqeti and Diana Toska. Sali Murat of the Turkish party was also not present. Independent MP Ilir Demiri denied he had deliberately boycotted the session: "This is not a boycott, I did not know that the Assembly would mark Ukraine's independence and I had not received an invitation to the session," he said.

Antonio Milososki, who opened the meeting in place of the speaker, expressed solidarity with Ukraine. "We consider the Ukrainian people a brotherly people, but we also consider them an integral part of the mosaic of European peoples. Our support is not only political, it is, above all, human, and the support is not only diplomatic, it is also material and moral and with everything we can as a state within our capacities to give to Ukraine in today's conditions," Milososki said.

The interparliamentary group for support of the Crimean Platform in the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia was established on October 7, 2024, at the initiative of Speaker Afrim Gashi as a forum for parliamentary initiatives linked to the Crimean Platform and to raise awareness about events in Crimea and its illegal annexation by Russia. The creation of the group was presented as an additional visible sign of the Assembly's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Photo: Sobranie