The leaders of Albania and Kosovo, Sali Berisha and Hashim Thaci, promised on Sunday in Skopje unity for all Albanians within the borders of the European Union and rejected any possibility of territorial claims towards neighboring Balkan countries where many Albanians live.
– We will achieve the plan for Albanian national unity through the European Union – said Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in front of 10,000 people gathered on Sunday evening in Skopje to celebrate the centenary of Albanian independence.
– Our neighbors do not need to fear the national unity of Albanians – he added, although the gathered were chanting ‘Greater Albania’ and displaying Albanian flags. Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci emphasized that Albanians are “stronger than ever” and announced that they will continue to work together. No serious incidents were reported during the gathering on Sunday, and the Macedonian police secured it with heightened security measures.
On Saturday, groups of young Macedonians clashed again with members of the Albanian minority who were burning Macedonian flags in Skopje and in Tetovo, where Albanians are in the majority. Since March, interethnic tensions have resumed in Macedonia following the death of two Albanians who were killed in a dispute by a Macedonian police officer. Relations between Albanians and Macedonians have been tense after a seven-month conflict in 2001 between government forces and Macedonian Albanians. The conflict ended with a peace agreement in Ohrid in August 2001, which provided greater rights for the numerous Albanian minority.
