
BESA party leader Bilal Kasami presented his meeting with US acting Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker as ‘evidence’ that the US supports his coalition with SDSM. In effect, Kasami first received orders to enter coalition with the SDSM from the US Ambassador (as instructed by Reeker), followed up by a meeting with Reeker in D.C. several days later after announcing the first pre-election coalition between what was considered an ethnic Macedonian party – SDSM – and an Albanian party – BESA.
“We had a fruitful discussion about the events in Macedonia. I informed the Ambassador about the latest events here and the winning SDSM – BESA coalition. There was a positive feedback from the Ambassador and all the diplomats here in the US about this coalition, which is a coalition for the future of “North” Macedonia”, Kasami said.
Reeker was a US Ambassador to Macedonia under Barack Obama and remains closely involved in Macedonian politics. He is considered the ‘godfather’ of “North”, is also credited with the overall plan to blackmail MPs into voting for the name change.