There is widespread belief among analysts and the Macedonian public that the protests are intended to destabilise Macedonia prior to the NATO summit in Chicago on 20-21 May. Macedonia’s bid to join NATO was blocked in 2008 by Greece over the long-standing name dispute between Athens and Skopje.
Some analysts in the region now worry of renewed attempts to carve out an ethnic Albanian state in western Macedonia.
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Albanian religious leaders on Sunday slammed a planned gay pride parade, with a spokesman for the Muslim community saying it would pose a "danger" to society.
"Such public demonstration is an abuse of human rights and freedoms and presents a danger for the morals and tradition of the Albanian family," Agron Hoxha told local media.(source)
Several incidents between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians were reported last night in Macedonia.
Four ethnic Albanians attacked three minors in the capital of Skopje late on Friday.
Macedonian police have confirmed that the attackers beat up the three victims with fists and metal bars and that one of them was in the hospital.(source)
Muslims in an Albanian coastal town have protested against the opening of an exhibition of nude photographs and sculptures in a gallery a few metres from the local mosque, media reported Wednesday.
"This exhibition is unacceptable. It should not be opened next to the mosque of the town" of Durres, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the capital Tirana, local mufti Redi Quku was quoted by media as saying.
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Leaders of Albania's Muslim community say they are against government plans to ban the use of veils in schools.
They issued a statement defending the use of the veil, which is not widespread in the small Balkan country despite it having a majority Muslim population.
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When Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, newspapers carried headlines such as "The birth of the first Islamic state in Europe" and "Muslim fundamentalist mafia obtain a state in Kosovo".
In fact, Islam did not play a role in the Albanian march to independence, either in Kosovo or in Albania when it became independent from the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Contrary to some claims, Islam was not involved in the Kosovar pursuit of liberty because the branch of the religion in Kosovo, as in most of the Balkan region, belongs historically to the tolerant, mystical branch called Sufism. Sufism is still the main form of Islam practised in many parts of the Balkans, especially in Kosovo and Macedonia.
The majority of Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia are Muslim, but a sizeable number of practising believers belong to Sufi brotherhoods. This is a contemplative brand of Islam based on collectives in which the members, called dervishes, practice mystical exercises through which they reach a communal trance.
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"The announcement was a bombshell," said Elvis Naci, imam of Tirana's Tabakeve mosque, adding that the council of the Muslim Community had yet to discuss the proposal and express an official position.
Speaking before the Eid celebration, Tirana Mayor Edi Rama said the municipality had a work plan ready to construct the new mosque behind the National Opera.
An an overwhelming majority of Kosovo Albanians - 81 percent - favour unification with neighbouring Albania, according to an international survey published on Thursday.
A total of 48.8 per cent of Albanians in Kosovo and 41.8 in Macedonia believe unification could take place soon.
In Albania, support for unification has fallen to 62.8 pe cent from 68 percent last year.
The survey findings came less than three years after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia.(more)