Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev is today on an official visit to Tirana, in the company of Deputy PM Bujar Osmani and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Dimitrov.
This is Zaev’s first visit to Albania since Parliament passed the Constitutional amendments to rename the country North Macedonia, thus resolving a long-standing dispute with Greece. The President of North Macedonia, Gjorgje Ivanov, has refused to adopt the new name and sign any legislation bearing it.
Under PM Zaev, Albanian was also recently recognized as the second official language of North Macedonia, which holds a sizable Albanian minority.
It is unclear whether PM Zaev will address the escape of former Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski, who was convicted for corruption but escape to Hungary through Albania. Gruevski’s entrance into Albania had not been registered by the customs control. Gruevski is currently in Budapest, where he received political asylum.
