Crvenkovski, Ahmeti Meet In Skopje

The two men, whose parties are former ruling coalition partners, agreed that the security situation in the country and inter ethnic relations between the Macedonian majority and the ethnic Albanian community will not fix themselves if they are not addressed.

Crvenkovski heads the Social Democrat Party, SDSM, while Ahmeti leads the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI.

Macedonian police in recent weeks discovered large stashes of weapons near the country's border with Kosovo. Special police were also involved in two violent incidents with men guarding and transporting weapons in the region, including one in which 4 men were killed. The events stirred public fear of a renewed emergence of armed violence in that area.

Crvenkovski told media after the meeting that he had received positive signals from Ahmeti that the name row with neighboring Greece might be solved soon. The row has been the biggest obstacle for Macedonia’s entry into NATO and progress towards full EU membership.

“Ahmeti expressed hope that something positive is going to happen soon but he left the impression that he is not entirely informed,” Crvenkovski told reporters after the meeting.

Crvenkovski said that there is very little time for a solution to be found to the spat and urged the prime minister and main ruling VMRO DPMNE party leader, Nikola Gruevski, to boost his efforts in that direction.

Commenting on recent speculation that the DUI is considering leaving the government, Ahmeti said that “Macedonia does not need early elections at the moment”.

“I had a meeting with Gruevski a few days ago and there are working groups in the government which discuss all issues and manage the challenges facing the country,” he explained.

Teuta Arifi, a senior member of the DUI, wrote in a recent newspaper column that the time had come for DUI to seriously reconsider its participation in the Gruevski government, arguing that the prime minister has been putting off the party's demands for too long.

DUI has pushed for a swift resolution of the name row, which would unlock the country’s Euro-Atlantic path. The party also demands state pensions for the ethnic Albanian insurgents who participated in the 2001 armed conflict. In addition, high ranking party members have expressed dissatisfaction with several other government projects pushed by the VMRO DPMNE.

Ahmeti said that the party tolerates different opinions, like those of Arifi, but noted that all moves are decided by the presidency.
 
The Crvenkovski-Ahmeti meeting takes place just one day after Gruevski said that he would meet with Ahmeti when there was a need for it.

Ahemti and Crvenkovski formed a ruling coalition in 2002. The coalition lasted till 2006, when SDSM lost the elections to VMRO DPMNE.