Between friendship and sanctions: Dimitrievski opens doors for the Russian ambassador

After February 2022, almost all politicians refused to meet with representatives of the Embassy of
the Russian Federation in Skopje. This isolation was in line with the entire Western world, which had
imposed sanctions against Moscow as an independent and sovereign state due to the brutal invasion
of Ukraine.
However, these sanctions do not apply to Maksim Dimitrievski, the mayor of the municipality of
Kumanovo and chairman of the ZNAM movement. Since June of this year, his party has been part of
the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski's VMRO-DPMNE, which has two
important ministries: Administration and Justice.
Dimitrievski announced on his Facebook profile that the Russian ambassador to North Macedonia,
Sergei Aleksandrovich Bazdnikin, had visited the municipality on Friday. Dimitrievski posted a photo
of the meeting with Bazdnikin on Facebook, on which he wrote: “Today the Ambassador of the
Russian Federation, His Excellency Sergey Aleksandrovich Bazdnikin. During the meeting we
discussed some topical issues, focusing on the teaching of the Russian language in primary and
secondary schools in Kumanovo.”
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Although the municipality does not have the authority to decide which foreign language may be
taught in schools, it is estimated that Dimitrievski, as a partner in the ruling coalition, can influence
the Ministry of Education to carry out this work. According to official statistics, only 69 high school
students are currently learning Russian in North Macedonia, which is a decrease compared to 2019,
when 225 students were learning the language.
However, the meeting has sparked heated debates in public opinion, especially among the Albanian
public.
“With VLEN in the government and with the local councils of VLEN in the municipality of Kumanovo,
our students will probably learn the Russian language in schools due to the crazy wishes of
Dimitrieveski,” reads the written reaction of the DUI-in opposition.
The ruling coalition VLEN in Kumanovo has responded to the accusations by clarifying that “the
curricula for subjects in primary and secondary schools are approved by the Minister of Education on
the proposal of the Office for Educational Development”.
It seems that the Russian ambassador in Skopje, Bazdnikin, has been a frequent guest in the
municipality of Kumanovo, with Russian language education and the promotion of Russian literature
and culture at the center of discussions. A meeting took place in May 2019, as publicly announced by
the municipality of Kumanovo, as part of the International Conference “Russia – North Macedonia:
Language, History, Culture, Education”. On this occasion, the municipality was visited by students
and professors from the St. Petersburg high school, which cooperated with the “Goce Delcev” high
school from Kumanovo as part of the conference.
The next publicized meeting between Dimitrievski and Bazdnikin took place just a few days before
the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine – on February 2, 2022. During this visit to Kumanovo, the
Russian ambassador was accompanied by Vladimir Khrisanfov, adviser on economic and business
issues, trade at the embassy. It was officially announced that, in addition to Dimitrievski, the Russian
teachers and the directors of the municipal primary and secondary schools where the teachers teach
were also present at the meeting. As in 2019, the need for cooperation was also emphasized at this
meeting using the example of the secondary school “Goce Delcev” from Kumanovo and the grammar
school from St. Petersburg.
“Russians and Macedonians share common values, including the traditions of the anti-fascist war – it
is very nice that the city's Liberation Day is celebrated in Kumanovo every year on November 11.” “It
is a great honor and privilege for us to take part in the solemn ceremony – by laying flowers we pay
tribute to the fallen heroes,” reads the statement released by the Russian Embassy in Skopje
immediately after the meeting. “We are pleased with the considerable support that the municipality
of Kumanovo provides for the teaching of the Russian language in schools – more than anywhere
else in the country.” We thank the administration of the municipality and personally Mr. Maksim
Dimitrievski for paying attention to this issue.”
Dimitrievski condemned the terrorist attack in Moscow in March, but has not done the same with
regard to Russian aggression in Ukraine. As mayor of the municipality, he was elected in both 2017
and 2021 with the support of Albanian voters. Ethnic Albanians make up around a third of the
population in Kumanovo, while Dimitrievski was elected as an independent in the last mandate. A
few months before the last parliamentary elections in June this year, Dimitrievski founded the ZNAM
movement, with which he won six MPs. He is now part of the government, where he is known for his
positions against the Albanian parties within the government, which have joined forces in the pre-
election coalition VLEN. /The Geopost