Macedonian Mayor of Prespa, Albania

Good luck to Edmond Temelko.

Interview with 1st Macedonian to be elected Mayor of Prespa, Albania
United Macedonian Diaspora
Friday, 09 March 2007

Source: Macedonian daily newspaper Dnevnik

Translated by UMD Staff

We hold the key to the development of the rights of Macedonians.

Prespa is a very poor region and there is a lot of work ahead of us. This is why we will need the help of both Albania and Macedonia.

At the local elections in Albania, held on February 18, 2007, a Macedonian from the party Macedonian Alliance for European Integration (MAEI) was, for the first time, elected as mayor. Edmond Temelko, a 36-year-old veterinarian turned politician won the mayoral position in Prespa municipality, making him the first Macedonian elected in Albania.
During the campaign, you frequently said that the Macedonians had a historic opportunity during these elections. What does your election victory mean to you and your electorate?

These are crucial moments in the history of Macedonians in Albania. Macedonians in this country unable to fully exercise their basic human rights such as schooling in the mother tongue, the use of national symbols and participation in the state institutions. We also fought very hard to register our political party, the Macedonian "