Macedonian citizens remember January 7, 2017, well. Christmas Day when the then and now Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama gathered the leaders of the Albanians from Macedonia to agree on the conditions under which the parties from the Albanian bloc will join the future government.

VMRO-DPMNE won the just-held parliamentary elections, but the Albanian leaders set the fulfillment of the points in the , so-called Tirana platform, as a condition for joining the government.

The smiling faces of Ali Ahmeti, Zijadin Sela, Bilal Kasami and Artan Grubi in Rama’s red office remain as our bad memory. Almost the same group will gather on Tuesday in Tirana. This time, the new leader of Alliance, Arben Taravari, will also be there, as well as the “eternal” Menduh Thaci.

Vice Prime Minister Grubi clumsily tried to show that they are going to Tirana “just like that” and that they have no specific agenda.

The meeting on Tuesday comes at a time when demands for early elections are stronger and Prime Minister Kovacevski’s firm stance that there will be elections in the regular term in 2024. On the other hand, DUI fears that it may be left without the power it has held for almost 20 years and that no “May” and “April” agreements are valid anymore.

 

This gentleman’s agreement was violated precisely by DUI when it did not coalition with the winner of the 2016 elections, which was VMRO-DPMNE, but instead chose SDSM.

What has been implemented from the Tirana platform so far 

Complete equality of the Albanian language with the Macedonian language
The Albanian language became the second official language with the law on languages
Formation of the Ministry of Political System
An Albanian (Bujar Osmani) is involved in the negotiations with Bulgaria

What’s left

Adoption of a Resolution condemning the so-called genocide against the Albanians in the period 1912-56
Changing the coat of arms, the flag and the anthem