site.btaNorth Macedonia's Largest Albanian Party Nominates Foreign Minister Osmani for President

The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), which is the largest ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia, has picked the country's Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani as its candidate for the presidential elections this coming spring.

DUI Chairman Ali Ahmeti broke the news about the decision of the party's central leadership, saying that Osmani's presidential nomination "ushers in the most important referendum for the country, in which everybody must unanimously say 'no' to Russia and 'yes' to Europe."

DUI was initially expected to back a consensual candidate together with the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), as was the case at the 2019 elections. This changes after the Albanian opposition parties, which signed an agreement on running in the elections as a coalition, nominated Arben Taravari for president. The second round of voting in the presidential elections will take place on May 8 simultaneously with the elections of parliament.

Reacting to Ahmeti's statement, the Albanian opposition bloc said that DUI is "sacrificing" Osmani by committing him to the presidential race while, at the same time, splitting the Albanian vote in North Macedonia.