Skopje, 13 August 2024 (MIA) - The war of 2001 was completely unnecessary. Twenty-three years later, I am reiterating my clearly stated position, General Stojanche Angelov of Dignity party commented on the anniversary of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. He added that Albanians would have eventually gained the rights they supposedly fought for back in 2001.

He emphasized that the memory of all fallen Macedonian heroes will live on as long as the surviving defenders from 2001 are alive.

“No reasonable argument can excuse the killings, torture, and psychological damage inflicted on Macedonian security forces members and numerous civilians, nor the devastation of parts of our country in 2001. Albanians would have received the rights they allegedly fought for in 2001 even without the war, perhaps a little later, but the country would not have been devastated, there would have been no killings and massacres, and there would not have been a dramatic deterioration in inter-ethnic relations or the development of inter-ethnic hatred,” Angelov stated.

He pointed out that while the material damage has been slowly repaired, human lives, the lives that were lost, can never be brought back.

According to him, since 2001, some Albanians have exploited the positive discrimination enabled by the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Unfortunately, he pointed out, some individuals are more interested in obtaining personal rights and benefits than in fulfilling their duties to the state.

“The best thing for the state, as well as for all of us, is for citizens to be employed and advance based on their education and professional qualifications, not on their ethnic background,” Angelov noted.

Photo: MIA archive