Twenty-five years of the Ohrid Agreement, two separate ceremonies: the Government in one hall, DUI in its own

Twenty-five years since the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and the state could not organise a single joint commemoration. The Government held a ceremonial session. DUI held its own celebration. Each in front of their own memorial plaques, each with their own version of the same document.

The government session was chaired by deputy prime minister Aleksandar Nikoloski. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski was not there - he marked the anniversary with a Facebook post. „We cannot change the past, but we can decide what kind of future we will build”, he wrote. For a document that stopped a war in 2001, that is a fairly economical appearance.

First deputy prime minister Bekim Sali said that if the politicians of 2001 built peace and institutional equality, this generation must build long-term trust between the communities. Nikoloski used the occasion to talk about the Skopje-Blace and Tetovo-Gostivar motorways, but did not miss the chance to point a finger at DUI for using the agreement to score party points.

DUI with its own ceremony and its own message

DUI responded that the Ohrid Agreement cannot be accepted selectively - respected where it suits those in power, and bypassed where it guarantees equality. The party presented itself as the driver of the process turning the agreement from a peace document into constitutional and institutional reality.

President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova was in Struga, where she said that this very town is an eloquent example of respect for diversity. Alliance for Albanians leader Arben Taravari called for a new agreement. Justice Minister Jeton Shasivari said the agreement is an ongoing institutional responsibility, not merely a historical date. Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi urged that the document be seen above political differences.

Every one of them has a point. The problem is that not one of them is making it at the same table.

Who sat at that table in 2001

The agreement was signed on 13 August 2001, at the presidential residence on Vodno, after the armed conflict. The signatories were then president Boris Trajkovski, prime minister Ljubčo Georgievski, SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski, PDP leader Imer Imeri and DPA leader Arben Xhaferi, with EU and US mediation.

Not one of the five signatories is still in politics. Three are no longer alive - Trajkovski died in a crash in 2004, Imeri passed away in 2008, Xhaferi in 2012. And the document they signed is still interpreted differently depending on who is holding the lectern.

Twenty-five years is enough time for a country to settle whether it has one shared date or two separate ones. The answer the institutions gave this Wednesday was clear and came with no excuse attached: two ceremonies, two halls, two audiences. When the next anniversary comes around, it is worth checking whether anyone even once proposed sitting down together - or whether everyone agreed this way is more comfortable.