North Macedonia requested a "correction" in the census of the Macedonian minority population in Albania, BGNES reported.
Yesterday the results of it were published - the Bulgarians in the country are three times more than the North Macedonians (7057 people to 2281).
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia notes with serious concern the published preliminary results of the census conducted in the Republic of Albania in 2023. The technical irregularities in the way it was conducted, which were constantly pointed out by the Macedonian companies in the Republic of Albania on the eve of the census, but also during its conduct, led to the publication of data which, unfortunately, do not adequately reflect the real number of ethnic Macedonians in the country," the ministry said in a statement.
The Macedonian MFA "expresses dissatisfaction and strongly reacts to the use of the term "North Macedonians" and the use of the name of a country as a substitute for an ethnic community".
The ambassador of North Macedonia in Tirana, Dancho Markovski, "will be summoned for urgent consultations in order to clarify the shortcomings and inconsistencies in this process, consider the possibilities for appropriate correction of the mistakes made and find the most adequate ways for further joint actions and promote bilateral relations with the Republic of Albania. In the upcoming period, the Ministry will cooperate intensively with the competent representatives of the authorities in the Republic of Albania and with the representatives of the Macedonian community in the direction of their cultural and social promotion within the Albanian society, which unfortunately and more than it was clearly ignored by the previous political leadership in our country. All open issues between two neighboring countries must be resolved through dialogue and mutual understanding and respect for the rules, principles and values of the international legal order," added the authorities in Skopje. | BGNES
