
There is no place for surprise that Ahmeti and Sela partly backed down from the Tirana Platform in the last two days, and they did in two separate interviews with different TV stations. The reason for this is very simple. The VMRO was forcefully removed from power, and the next step is to change Macedonia’s name, of course to the detriment of the country and eliminate the obstacle to joining NATO. This is the main, primary goal. Everything else is now secondary – says journalist Naum Stoilkovski in his FP post.
According to him, external forces that guide the process realized the Tirana Platform is something that can seriously hamper the overall objective and worsen Zaev’s position. Guided by the reaction of the people who protested for 80 days, the reaction of VMRO with their filibuster in Parliament and the reaction of the President, they realized that Tirana Platform could endanger the project and, as pointed out by Stoilkovski asked the Albanians to settle for less for the moment, something that is less irritating to the Macedonians and other ethnic communities.
According to Stoilkovski, it was likely promised to the albanians that for the first phase a change of name must occur, while the federalization of the country is pushed into the second stage of the project.
Ahmeti is not only pragmatic, but like all Albanian politicians never thinks of resisting foreigners.
Howver they won’t strike the name from the getgo. They will ease the public into it, even though that’s not possible. The way will be paved by adopting so called “reforms”, certain “European laws” which were ironically adopted 10 and even 15 years ago, however, they were no good when implemented by VMRO-DPMNE, now they will be acknowledged as the greatest thing to happen to the country. Then, they will pass the law on languages, probably without those controversial claims related to money, uniforms and the like – says Stoilkovski.
Then, will be the change of our name, likely after the local elections. Meanwhile, we’ll have a major witch hunt against VMRO’s leadership organized by the SPO and supported by the US, German, French and British Embassies in the country. Zaev will introduce populist moves such as repealing license fees for certain things, removal of external testing, removal of limit to sell alcohol after 9pm and other populist measures.
There will be a massive attempt to make a positive euphoria to increase the trust in the Social Democrats and reduce it in the VMRO-DPMNE. Through the Soros financed SDS media and the SPO, the VMRO-DPMNE will be presented as criminals and corrupt greedy liars.
Similarly to what they did with Poroshenko in Ukraine, Macedonia’s coup plotters will invite Zaev to a meeting with important leaders, not to be surprised if he is received by Trump, May, Macron or Merkel. It is part of the scheme to not just influence, but prepare the public for what’s coming.
The same people who ‘disciplined’ Gruevski and Ivanov will now praise Zaev, the first of which will likely be the German Foreign Minister, this is all part of the template, the script they ran in Ukraine – says Stoilkovski.
Taking into account that the SDS and DUI are well under the control of Washington and Berlin, VMRO-DPMNE as a self proclaimed pro Western party will be under intense pressure to support the plan that follows.
Should the VMRO-DPMNE not play ball with the coup organizers, the new puppet Government will go brutally against VMRO’s leadership with all available means, legal or illegal. How will Gruevski and his people proceed, and attempt to smooth things over with the other parties on the name issue, at the same time surviving the impact that follows remains to be seen.
However, such an approach by VMRO-DPMNE would create a serious risk, says Stoilkovski. The party’s hibernation under pressure from the West, silently allowing the name change, will open a widening space for a new party with close ties with Russia.
No matter how many objections Washington and Berlin had with the VMRO-DPMNE, one must keep in mind that VMRO-DPMNE is not only pro-Western, but in the past three years endured incredible stress tests, in terms of not changing their strategic alliance even when the fierce attacks came precisely from VMRO-DPMNE’s alleged strategic partners. For most people this situation is absurd and illogical, to show loyalty to someone who constantly attacks you.
It’s a question whether local representatives of Western powers can think long-term. However, their superiors are certainly aware that the current attack on VMRO-DPMNE has already created great interest in Russia, all in an effort to win allegiances with the VMRO-DPMNE. However, this didn’t happen, VMRO-DPMNE remained loyal to Washington and Berlin despite receiving a death sentence from them. As a result the path to create and back a different Macedonian political party that will include logistical & financial support from Moscow is now open – says Stoilkovski.