Ali Ahmeti, leader of DUI, and Zijadin Sela, leader of AAA, met in Pristina with Congressman Keith Self, chair of the Europe Subcommittee in the US Congress. The agenda was tightly focused: the status of the Albanian language in Macedonia, the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and court cases that, according to the two leaders, demonstrate "selective justice".

Specific cases on the table: the "Alfa" trial, in which Agim Islami has spent 18 years in prison without a final verdict, and the release of the suspects in the 27 April case on serious terrorism charges. Ahmeti and Sela also raised the Badinter principle as a protected mechanism for the Constitutional Court - which, according to them, has become a source of inter-ethnic tension because of single-majority dominance.

What is the political context? Two leaders of Albanian parties (DUI and AAA) travel to Pristina to discuss the situation in Skopje with a US congressman - in other words, they are calling for American pressure on the current VMRO-DPMNE and VLEN government. That is not news in Balkan politics, but the fact that Sela and Ahmeti - who are rivals - are showing up together makes one thing clear: for the Albanian parties, the Ohrid Agreement and the Albanian language outweigh political rivalry.

Ahmeti, the source reports, thanked Self for "the historic role of the United States in building peace and democracy in the region". That is the rhetoric that has been on repeat since 2001. The question is whether those words translate into anything concrete - the US Congress right now has far higher priorities than Balkan inter-ethnic tensions. If a hearing or a resolution actually reaches Washington, it is a win. If not - it was a meeting for the photograph and for internal use.