VLEN has put decentralisation at the centre of its political programme. Municipalities should get more autonomy. Financial independence. Wider powers. In plain language - less Skopje, more local decision-making centres.

„Democracy starts where citizens live - in the municipality, in the neighbourhood, in the school", is the central message. VLEN is talking about a „new phase" of decentralisation. It is the trademark rhetorical package of Albanian parties in Macedonia - with reason, because historically decentralisation also means more political weight for Albanian majorities in the western municipalities.

What does VLEN concretely demand? Fiscal decentralisation - municipalities to keep a larger share of tax. Cross-border cooperation - the party cites the Tetovo-Prizren project as an example. Local control of primary and secondary education - schools should not depend on the Ministry in Skopje but on local self-government. The right of municipalities to set their own development priorities.

The party criticises previous governments - saying municipalities were „neglected, with insufficient services and no development perspective". That is a hit not just at SDSM, but at VMRO-DPMNE too, both of whom were in power in different periods.

The questions that remain - what are the financial sources for this „new phase"? Without budget reforms, every decentralisation is rhetoric. How much will Gostivar, Tetovo or Strumica actually get in absolute denars? Does this not risk turning rich municipalities into richer ones, and poor ones into poorer ones?

For the Balkans this is a lesson with a long history. Decentralisation is a double-edged weapon. On the western side, it means greater local self-government and better services. On the eastern - it can be a pretext for fragmenting the state along ethnic lines. Macedonia has both scenarios in its history, and VLEN's rhetoric covers both.