Fascist calls in Kumanovo, DUI demands resignation of Albanian deputy ministers

The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) has demanded the immediate resignation of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Astrit Iseni, and Deputy Minister of Sports, Safije Sadiki Shaini, due to their failure to respond to fascist chants during the basketball match between North Macedonia and Romania.

Last week, during this match, chants such as "A good Albanian is a dead Albanian" and "Gas chamber for Albanians" were heard in the hall, while among those present were also the highest state leaders of North Macedonia, including Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and the mayor of Kumanovo, Maksim Dimitrievski.

DUI leadership member Emir Sulejmani, in a press conference on Monday, called on Albanian representatives in the Macedonian Government to publicly distance themselves from the event, demand severe sanctions, and withdraw from a government that tolerates hatred.

"It was not just a sporting incident, but a terrible display of ethnic hatred, tolerated by the highest state leaders who were present in the hall – Prime Minister Mickoski, the mayor of Kumanovo Dimitrievski, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister and many other officials. Instead of hearing cheers for sport and coexistence, we heard terrible calls like 'a good Albanian is a dead Albanian', 'gas chamber for Albanians', 'clean Macedonia'. These are slogans that recall the darkest chapters of European history, which cannot be relativized or justified as a fan issue. Nor can they be covered up with hypocritical declarations of unity or with supposedly objective investigations that ultimately end with rewards. The worst is the tolerance and total institutional silence. No reaction from the Basketball Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the government and everyone who was in that bleached stand "hate," he said.

He criticized Albanian representatives in the Macedonian government for, as he said, their action and inaction in the face of a serious attack on Albanian dignity.

"We demand concrete political responsibility: immediate resignation of Astrit Isen, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, and resignation of Safije Sadiki-Shaini, Deputy Minister of Sports, for inaction and failure to react in the face of a serious attack on the dignity of Albanian citizens and interethnic coexistence," Sulejmani added.

Institutions in Kosovo have also reacted against these calls, with the case even condemned by President Vjosa Osmani.