Diplomatic clash expands / Këlliçi, new accusations against Hoxha

2026-04-25 14:01:00, Aktualitet CNA

The situation surrounding the alleged messages of Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha has taken on new dimensions after the official reaction from Skopje.

North Macedonia's Minister of Economy and Labor, Besar Durmishi, has strongly condemned the language used in the published communications, calling Hoxha's vocabulary unacceptable and a serious violation of state ethics.

Durmishi stressed that official Skopje expects an urgent clarification from Tirana, while insisting that Minister Hoxha must apologize to the Albanians of North Macedonia for the offensive labels.

According to him, the Albanians there are not simply neighbors of a political project like Open Balkan, but an inseparable part of the national trunk.

Harsh criticism was also directed at the Albanian ambassador to Skopje, Denion Meidani, whose silence was described as disappointing and aligned with party interests.

Meanwhile in Tirana, opposition MP Belind Këlliçi has continued with strong accusations, claiming that Minister Hoxha is attempting to erase the traces of the scandal.

Through a recent reaction, Këlliçi stated that the minister has started to leave WhatsApp communication groups, specifically the group titled "Ambassadors", as an attempt to escape the fact-checking of conversations.

The MP also explained that the discrepancies in the messages' timings, which were used by certain media outlets as a defense for the minister, are simply a consequence of the different time zones where the group members are located.

According to Këlliç, the minister's panic and withdrawal from the working groups confirm the scandal, so he repeated the call for his immediate resignation and public apology for the unprecedented shame towards his compatriots.

"Damn it, you don't have to keep discriminating!!!"

Neither different time zones nor leaving WhatsApp groups can protect you! You are simply scandalous and you are proving this every hour!

Resign and publicly apologize for this unprecedented shame and scandal!

You have reached the point where the defense is done by the Tirana incinerator media, the Bollino slander machine, who still don't understand the difference between the zones!", writes Këlliçi.

Diplomatic clash expands / Këlliçi, new accusations against Hoxha

This diplomatic crisis places the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in a very difficult position, as the initial denial of the news as a fabrication is now facing official demands for accountability from the government of the neighboring country./ CNA