Monday, February 26, 2018

DR BUJAR & MR OSMANI



The Strange case of Dr BUJAR & Mr OSMANI - two faces of Bujar Osmani

There are not many Prime Ministers or deputy Prime Ministers who belong to political parties that build Nazi collaborator statues.

German Prime Minister (Federal Chancellor) Angela Merkel and her deputy don't. But Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani has that dubious "honour" - and he cynically pretended to commemorate the Holocaust a few weeks ago.

Albanian Nazi quisling militia Balli Kombetar took part in the Holocaust during WW2, according to US author Richard Raschke.

Yet there is silence over Balli Kombetar statues in Macedonia recently built by ethnic Albanian party DUI (BDI) whose members include Ali Ahmeti, Nevzat Bejta, Artan Grubi and Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani.

Osmani, a medical doctor by profession, has come across as well groomed, well spoken and a highly intelligent political operator for western audiences but beneath the exterior is a man whose political party DUI has neo fascist views. see links here and here

He has never publicly distanced himself from those views held by his DUI colleagues nor spoken out over the Balli Kombetar statues built in the past decade.

Silence on this issue sends the wrong message to both the international community and native ethnic Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia.

Author Richard Raschke on the Balli Kombetar’s role in World War II - link here 



Both the Macedonian and international media have given Osmani and the Albanian political bloc a free ride over the Nazi collaborator statues, not once asking him or the Albanian bloc about them. This is mainly due to strong US support for the Albanian political bloc in Macedonia.

Sources within the Jewish community abroad and in Macedonia have told TEAM UZUNOV blog that there is a reluctance to speak out because of the very small size of the remaining Jewish community in Macedonia, largely wiped out during World War II at the hands of the Nazis and collaborationist Kingdom of Bulgaria, which had occupied Macedonia - what is now the Republic of Macedonia - from 1941 to 1944.

“We’re playing it cool for now and hoping that Albanian leaders in Macedonia will eventually remove these statues,” one source told TEAM UZUNOV.


Jewish Holocaust Centre, Skopje, Macedonia.


2011 - A museum dedicated to the memory of the Jews of Macedonia who perished in the Shoah has been inaugurated in the former Yugoslav republic, in the presence of the country’s president and representatives of international Jewish organisations, including the World Jewish Congress (WJC).

In his speech, the WJC’s Research Director Laurence Weinbaum pointed out that no Jewish community in Europe had suffered a greater degree of destruction than the Macedonian one. 

Referring to Macedonia's principled stand on the restitution issue and to its unwavering friendship with Jews and Israel, he said:

"In much of contemporary Europe, dead Jews are respected, but live ones are defamed. You honor the dead and the living, and in so doing you have set an example to which other nations should aspire. There are nations that are larger, richer, better known and more powerful than Macedonia, but none more decent, gracious, good-hearted and noble.” see link here


TEAM UZUNOV contacted Deputy Prime Minister Dr Bujar Osmani for a response but so far none has been forthcoming - email below

From: Sasha Uzunov
Sent: Tuesday, 6 February 2018 8:58 AM
To: cabinet@sep.gov.mk; melani.novakovska@sep.gov.mk
Subject: Attention Mr Bujar Osmani & Holocaust commeration

Attention Mr Bujar Osmani
Deputy Prime Minister, Macedonia
Secretariat for European Affairs
Kej Dimitar Vlahov nr.4
1000 Skopje
The former building of Komercijalna Bank, behind Hotel Stone Bridge
Republic of Macedonia
Phone: +389 (0) 2 3200-104
Fax: ++389 (0) 2 311 45 69
e-mail: cabinet@sep.gov.mk
Mrs. Melani Novakovska
Head of sector for management and public relations
Tel: +389 (0) 2 3200-137
melani.novakovska@sep.gov.mk
Секретаријат за европски прашања
Кеј Димитар Влахов, бр.4
1000 Скопје
Поранешна зграда на Комерцијална Банка, позади Хотел Стоун Бриџ
Република Македонија
Тел: +389 (0) 2 3200-104
Факс: +389 (0) 2 311 45 69
е-пошта: cabinet@sep.gov.mk
Subject: World War II Albanian Nazi collaborator statues

Dear Mr Osmani,

My name is Sasha Uzunov, an Australian journalist who was recently in Macedonia. I have worked in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am also a former Australian soldier.

I wanted to ask you some questions:

 1. The German Deputy Ambassador Mr Marco Acquaticci has responded to concerns over controversial World War II Albanian Nazi collaborator statues built in western Macedonia and supported by your political party, DUI. You have remained silent. Why is that?

Link:

http://teamuzunovmedia.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/germany-responds-to-albanian-nazi.html?m=1

2. Isn't it a contradiction to commemorate the Jewish Holocaust and to support statues to the Balli Kombetar, a Nazi quisling milita?

3. You have pushed for bi-lingualism in Macedonia but by keeping quiet and not opposing controversial Albanian statues why should native ethnic Macedonians trust your intentions behind bi-lingualism?

4. Are you aware that in 2007 the US Embassy in Macedonia opposed bi-lingualism in Macedonia? Link:

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07SKOPJE919_a.html




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