DUI: About 90% of Ohrid Agreement implementation funds went to Serbian community organisations
The opposition alleges nearly 90% of Ohrid Agreement implementation funds were awarded to Serbian community organisations and demands publication of beneficiaries and an investigation.
The opposition Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) accused the Government of North Macedonia of directing almost all funds from the programme for implementing the Ohrid Framework Agreement to organisations linked to the Serbian community, saying about 90 percent of the money ended up with groups from that community.
DUI said the distribution shows the government is using the Ohrid Agreement to finance political and ideological priorities of another community, while mechanisms that guarantee Albanian representation are being dismantled: Albanian language use is being removed from institutions, Albanians are being pushed out of leadership posts and replaced within the state administration.
In its statement the party said: "When approximately 90 percent of a programme ends up in one direction, it is a premeditated government policy."
Calls for transparency and a probe
The party described the allocation as particularly worrying at a time when, it says, a so-called "Serbian world" project exerts political, institutional, cultural and media influence in the country. "Institutions are gradually being put at the service of an agenda that distances the state from its multiethnic character, from the spirit of the Ohrid Agreement and from Euro-Atlantic orientation," the statement added.
DUI also addressed the government’s coalition partner Vlen, asking what Albanians have gained from their participation when almost the entire set of funds from the Ohrid programme appears to have been assigned to others. "Vlen is not merely a mute observer of the degradation of Albanians, but an active part of the mechanism that implements it," the party said.
The opposition demanded the immediate publication of the full list of beneficiaries, the amounts awarded to each project, the composition of the evaluation commission, the points assigned and the minutes from the decision-making process. DUI said the case should be investigated both institutionally and politically. "The Ohrid Agreement must not be turned into an instrument for advancing the 'Serbian world', while Albanians are deprived of one right every day," the statement concluded.
Photo: press material from the event
