Albanian MPs accuse ethnic targeting in Assembly; Mickoski blames DUI for emigration
Albanian opposition raised claims of ethnic rights violations in the Assembly; PM Hristijan Mickoski countered that decades of DUI rule left Brvenica without projects and spurred emigration.
A plenary session of the Assembly held on Thursday for MPs' questions turned into a clash between Albanian opposition deputies and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski over allegations of ethnically motivated treatment.
Albanian opposition members told the Prime Minister they increasingly hear complaints among Albanians about what they described as infringements on their ethnic rights by the Government of North Macedonia.
Counter-claims from the premier
Answering those accusations, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski sharply shifted blame onto the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). He said: "DUI has not implemented a single project in Brvenica in the last 20 years."
Mickoski also linked the alleged absence of development to population loss: "the result of such governance is the emigration of about 10,000 residents, of whom 90 percent are Albanians." His remarks framed the departures as a consequence of DUI's long-term local governance.
The session — where the opposition is first to pose questions to the prime minister and ministers — continued with exchanges between the blocs and no immediate de-escalation. Deputies from the Albanian opposition insisted their concerns were about rights and equal treatment, while the prime minister repeated his criticism of DUI's local record.
Photo: press material from the event
