site.btaNorth Macedonia's Foreign Ministry Voices Concern over Albanian Census Data

The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of North Macedonia voiced concern over census data conducted in Albania in 2023 because of "the publication of preliminary data which, unfortunately, does not adequately reflect the real number of ethnic Macedonians in the country."

The Foreign Ministry in Skopje expressed dissatisfaction and a strong reaction to the use of the word "North Macedonians".

North Macedonia's ambassador in Tirana will be summoned "to clarify the shortcomings and inconsistencies in this process, to consider options for appropriately correcting the shortcomings and to find the most adequate ways to further joint actions and promote bilateral relations with the Republic of Albania".

"In the coming period, the Foreign Ministry (of the Republic of North Macedonia) will cooperate intensively with the competent representatives of the authorities and with the representatives of the Macedonian community in the Republic of Albania in terms of their cultural and social promotion within the Albanian society, which, unfortunately, has been completely neglected by the previous political formation in our country," the Foreign Ministry of North Macedonia says in its statement. 

The media in North Macedonia published on Friday numerous angry reactions in the country about the census in Albania, in which there are more people declared themselves Bulgarians than Macedonians. The reason for the negative reactions is the reduced number of those registered in the census in Albania under the column "Macedonians" - 2,281, compared to 5,512 in the 2011 census. In the census held in 2023 in Albania, 7,057 citizens identified themselves as Bulgarians, and according to the leader of the Albanian party "Macedonian Alliance for European Integration" Vasil Sterjovski, the reason for this is "the pressure from Bulgaria on Macedonians to register as Bulgarians and the condition for obtaining Bulgarian passports" and that Albania has thus recognized a "non-existent Bulgarian minority".