Journalist and publicist Enver Robelli has criticized what he calls the European Union’s double standards in dealing with issues related to the rights of communities in the Western Balkans.
In a Facebook reaction on Saturday, Robelli said that European diplomacy has been very active in protecting the rights of the Serbian community in Kosovo, while, according to him, there has been a lack of reaction when it comes to the use of the Albanian language in the institutions of North Macedonia.
He praised the commitment of European representatives to the rights of Serbs in Kosovo, emphasizing that it is “very good that the EU mediator, Peter Sorensen, is committed to making the lives of Kosovo Serb citizens as easy as possible.”
Robelli also referred to the reactions of ambassadors of major European countries, emphasizing that it is positive that EU diplomacy is showing concern for the rights of the Serbian minority in Kosovo. According to him, the EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has also shown attention to this issue.
However, he stressed that there is “a big difference with the EU’s silence” when it comes to the use of the Albanian language in North Macedonia’s institutions. According to Robelli, in this country, about 30 percent of the population is Albanian, while recently there was mention of the possibility that traffic fines issued by the police would only be in Macedonian and English, not Albanian.
Recently, the Constitutional Court of North Macedonia rejected the use of Albanian in traffic fine messages.
Robelli emphasizes that for about 3 percent of Serbs in Kosovo there is a great mobilization of European diplomacy, while for Albanians in North Macedonia, according to him, there is a lack of reaction from the main European centers.
“For 3 percent Serbs in Kosovo, we have a major mobilization of all European diplomacy… But for 30 percent Albanians in North Macedonia, is anyone from Brussels, Berlin, Paris or Skopje talking?” he wrote.
At the end of his response, Robelli emphasized that the credibility of the European Union depends on equal access to the rights of non-majority communities in the region.
“The EU can only be credible if it engages without distinction for the rights of all non-majority communities in the Balkans. If it makes exceptions, then credibility approaches zero,” he wrote.