Awaiting the official start of the presidential campaign in North Macedonia, the political parties have chosen an offensive rhetoric towards their opponents, while accusations about the closeness of certain parties to the policies of the Russian Federation prevail. However, the main parties emphasize the European integration of the country as the only alternative, despite the disappointments from the delays that, according to them, the EU is making in this regard. Meanwhile, analysts do not rule out the possibility of exerting Russian influence on the expected elections.
In North Macedonia, even though the presidential election campaign has not officially started yet, political parties and contestants are developing a rather harsh rhetoric with serious accusations against political opponents.
While the Macedonian parties exchange insults for “betrayal of national interests”, the Albanian parties, on the other hand, are deepening in a rhetoric that focuses on the Russian influence in the country.
The Democratic Union for Integration has as its motto “Yes to Europe – No to Russia”, as it says that the eventual avoidance of the country's European path would be interpreted as a risk of orientation towards Russia.
The head of DUI, Ali Ahmeti, emphasizes that Russia intends to obstruct the European integration path of North Macedonia and extend the conflict to the Western Balkans.
“Russia has entered our country; has established political parties, has established mediums, has formed militants in our country, who want to break our firmly defined path that we want a peaceful Balkans. Here we have a party founded by Aleksandar Dugin, who is the head of Russian politics”, said Mr. Ahmeti in a meeting with his party's supporters.
DUI talks about the anti-European policies of the Macedonian and Albanian opposition and their coordination with Moscow, while it has warned about a Russian scenario aimed at political unrest after the May 8 elections.
However, Arben Taravari of the Albanian opposition coalition VLEN and candidate for president of the country describes these as baseless accusations:
“These are ridiculous accusations. I think that at least DUI has no right to accuse in this way, and if anyone is close to Serbia from the Albanian political parties, I think it is DUI and Serbia is the main representative of Russia in the Balkans, so these are accusations of baseless,” says Mr. Taravari.
But could there be Russian influence and interference in the expected North Macedonian elections? Analyst Albert Musliu recounts the story of Russian malicious activity through Internet hubs in North Macedonia's Veles regarding the 2020 US presidential election.
“The capacity in Macedonia to interfere in the election process from the Russian Federation is evident. In our case, they simplify the process of intervention of the Russian Federation. It is not always done through the Russians, but it is not always done through the Macedonians or the Serbs. The pro-Russian narrative that suits the interests of the Russian Federation and the destabilization of this region as an opportunity to defocus what is happening in Ukraine is also done through other narratives: Eastern and local ones. However, the tendency of interference on the part of the Russian Federation, either directly or through its “proxies” as in the Macedonian and Albanian side, is not a good intention. Its ultimate goal is to raise tensions, increase the clashes of both sides, which in Macedonia have not yet been concluded in order to distract the opinion of our Euro-Atlantic partners from what is happening in Russia and part of that focus of transferred to the Balkans”, says analyst Musliu in a conversation for the Voice of America.
Mr. Musliu, meanwhile, does not think that there could be any conflict of wider proportions in the Balkans due to the presence of NATO forces in Kosovo and because most of the countries in the region are already members of the Alliance.
The analyst estimates that Russia and its supporters in Skopje and the region aim, first of all, to encourage skepticism towards the EU.