In his first interview after winning the important mayoral race in Tetovo, BESA leader Bilal Kasami said that he was not consulted by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev about his resignation. Kasami said that he will meet with Zaev and discuss the political crisis, as he wants tosee the Government remain in place and make another push to unblock Macedonia’s EU accession talks.

It’s key that we speed up the Euro-Atlantic process of the country. The Government needs to continue in that direction. We had an agreement with Zaev and won mandate from the citizens in 2020. We have an obligation to continue on that path. We have strong support from Washington, Kasami said.

Kasami also accused the large coalition partner DUI of being an obstacle in Macedonia’s integrations – while nominally allied in the Zaev coalition, BESA and DUI fought a difficult electoral battle for control of Tetovo. “We may not vote for all of the DUI proposed ministers in the new Government”, Kasami said.