Vasil Sterjovski, leader of the party representing ethnic Macedonians in Albania, called for the census in this country to be extended. The reason Sterjovski gave was the pressure that Bulgarian diplomats exerted over Macedonians in Albania, urging them to register as Bulgarians.

The Albanian Government was notified of all the events. The pressure came from the Bulgarian Embassy in Albania but also from structures that work for Albania. So far, the Albanian Government has not taken steps to correct the situation and to stop the interference of a third party in the census, Sterjovski said.

According to him, the census was reduced to only three weeks, at a time when hundreds of Macedonians from the Mala Prespa region were travelling every day to Macedonia to work on the apple orchards. “We believe that this was done on urging from Bulgaria, to reduce the number of Macedonians”.