English
Thousands of Albanians gathered in downtown Skopje today to protest the war crimes trial against former UCK commander Hashim Thaci and a group of other UCK commanders. The rally was organized by DUI and its leader Ali Ahmeti – himself commander of the branch of UCK that started the 2001 civil war in Macedonia, after several similar protests in Pristina, Tirana and across Europe. Ahmeti is using the rally to drum up support among Albanian nationalists as his political fortunes have turned sour and he is left in the opposition for the first time in decades.
It is time for our boys to come back home! Our boys are innocent, our struggle was pure. The UCK war is holy and all of us, old and young, men and women, we are all UCK, Ahmeti shouted.
Participants carried Albanian flags, as well as flags of the US, EU and NATO, with a few Macedonian flags as well, but also maps of Greater Albania and pictures of UCK commanders. The rally was held at the Skenderbeg Square, in front of the statue of the medieval Christian lord honored by Albanians.
