DUI held a large rally in the main square in Skopje this evening, and the leader of this party Ali Ahmeti used the opportunity to issue a threat to VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski. Mickoski has led a campaign to reveal a wealth of evidence about corruption in DUI, and the Albanian party is visibly nervous over this.

Hristijan Mickoski grew up eating sweets. I grew up in a tower of stone, burnt three times by our enslavers. Hristijan, my people say that the fortress is built stone by stone. Don’t come asking for trouble, don’t start problems. You’re still young, choose your words carefully, Ahmeti said.

VMRO-DPMNE has declared its intention to form a post-election coalition with the Albanian opposition parties from the VLEN coalition, and to dethrone DUI after two decades in power. Ahmeti responded by courting parties from other ethnic groups, Turks, Roma, to join him, and also managed to split a faction from the Alliance of Albanians, hoping it will help him beat VLEN in the fight over who will get to be the Albanian coalition partner.