Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani said he approves of the provocative display of a huge Albanina flag over Tsar Samoil’s fortress in Ohrid which happened over the weekend.

A group of Albanian nationalists draped the flag over the walls of the ancient fortress, in a move which was seen as a territorial claim and provocation by the Macedonian citizens of Ohrid. One of the group later made a statement that “Ohrid is an Albanian city”.

And yet, according to Osmani, the Albanian flag can be raised anywhere in Macedonia and what the group did was lafwul.

Fly the Albanian flag wherever you want, you won’t have any problems, Osmani said in an interview with the Albanian language TV21.

The perpetrators were fined with 1.100 EUR and were given bans from entering Macedonia in the next five years. Other Albanian politicians also expressed support for the nationalist provocation.