Democratic Union for Integration
Encyclopedia
The Democratic Union for Integration is the largest Albanian political party in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, and the third largest political party in all of Macedonia. It was formed immediately after the country's 2001 conflict
2001 Macedonia conflict
The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army militant group attacked the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of January 2001...

 between the National Liberation Army
National Liberation Army (Macedonia)
The National Liberation Army , also known as the Macedonian UÇK, was a militant organization that operated in the Republic of Macedonia in 2001 and was closely associated with the Kosovo Liberation Army ....

 (NLA) and the Macedonian Security Forces.

DUI succeeded the NLA, after the war in Macedonia in 2001, when the latter was dismantled and disarmed. The NLA leader Ali Ahmeti
Ali Ahmeti
Ali Ahmeti is the political leader of the Democratic Union for Integration , a governing political party in Republic of Macedonia...

 became party president, . . The political party was formed in June 2002.

At the legislative elections on 15 September 2002, the party won 11.9% of the popular vote (70% of the Albanian vote) and 16 of 120 seats.

From 2002 to 2006 it was part of the ruling coalition along with the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia
Social Democratic Union of Macedonia
The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia is a centre-left political party in the Macedonia.It is the successor of the League of Communists of Macedonia, the ruling party during the communist regime which ruled SR Macedonia as a constituent republic of SFR Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. The current...

 (SDSM) and the Liberal Democratic Party.

In the 2006 legislative election
Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006
Parliamentary elections were in the Republic of Macedonia on 5 July 2006. The winner was the coalition led by the centre-right VMRO-DPMNE.- Campaign :...

, the party formed coalition with Party for Democratic Prosperity
Party for Democratic Prosperity
The Party for Democratic Prosperity or PDP is an ethnic Albanian political party in the Republic of Macedonia. The party was formed in April 1990 and is currently led by Abdyladi Vejseli....

 and Democratic League of Bosniaks
Democratic League of Bosniaks
The Democratic League of Bosniaks is a political party in the Republic of Macedonia, representative of the ethnic Bosniaks living in the Republic of Macedonia....

. This coalition received 12,2% of the vote and 18 seats. Although DUI won the largest number of seats among ethnic Albanian parties (14), since their Macedonian governmental partners lost the election, it was not invited by the new Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski
Nikola Gruevski
Nikola Gruevski has been Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia since 27 August 2006. He has led VMRO-DPMNE since May 2003. He was Minister of Finance in the VMRO-DPMNE government led by Ljubčo Georgievski until September 2002.- Personal life :...

 to participate in the new government. Its place was taken by the second largest Albanian political party, the Democratic Party of the Albanians
Democratic Party of Albanians
The Democratic Party of Albanians or DPA is a political party of the ethnic Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia. The DPA is a merger of the Party for Democratic Prosperity of Albanians and the People's Democratic Party which took place in June 1997...

.

However, after the 2008 legislative early election
Macedonian parliamentary election, 2008
Early parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Macedonia on 1 June 2008 after the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia voted to dissolve itself on 12 April 2008...

, the party returned to government in coalition with VMRO-DPMNE.

In the 2011 parliamentary election
Macedonian parliamentary election, 2011
An early parliamentary election was held in the Republic of Macedonia on 5 June 2011, a year earlier than necessary. All 123 parliamentary seats of the Sobranie were due for election, including the 3 seats provided for the first time for representatives of the Macedonian citizens living abroad: 1...

, DUI received 10.2% of the total vote, winning 15 seats. This is a loss of the 3 seats from the previous election.

Party symbol

The party's flag and symbol show the first letter of every word of the party name in Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 (BDI), topped by seven stars of which one is encircled in a white circled. It has been theorized that each star represents one part of Greater Albania
Greater Albania
Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians, based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas...

:
  • Republic of Albania
  • Ulcinj
    Ulcinj
    Ulcinj is a coastal resort town and municipality in Montenegro. The town of Ulcinj has a population of 10,828 of which the majority are Albanians...

     municipality and other parts of south-eastern Montenegro
    Montenegro
    Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

  • Kosovo
    Kosovo
    Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

  • Preševo Valley
    Preševo Valley
    The Preševo Valley , is an Albanian political catchphrase used to describe the two south Serbian municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, which have a majority ethnic Albanian population. Medvedja municipality is sometimes also included under this term, although it has a majority Serbian population...

     in southern Serbia
    Serbia
    Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

  • The western part of the Republic of Macedonia
    Republic of Macedonia
    Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

  • Chameria
    Chameria
    Chameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and northwestern Greece It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk...

     region in north-western Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....



The seventh encircled star is said to represent Greater Albania.

This theory has never been confirmed by any party officials, and all allegations for their claims for a Greater Albania have been officially denied. The stars are officially referring to the party's plea for Macedonia's future in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...


Skopje Fortress incident

After the foundations of a 13th century church (in fact, one of three) were found within the Skopje Fortress
Skopje Fortress
The Skopje Fortress , commonly referred to as Kale Fortress, or simply Kale , is a historic fortress located in the old town of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. It is situated on the highest point in the city overlooking the Vardar River...

 complex, the Cultural Heritage Protection Office actioned a project to restore it in the form of a church museum. DUI politicized the restoration and called for the construction of a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 alongside the planned church museum. Their calls were not taken seriously by the Cultural Heritage Protection Office on account of there never having been any Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic monuments within the complex (which predates Islamic influence in the region). Restorative efforts were briefly halted to allow for the calming of tensions. However, as soon as restoration was resumed, hundreds of DUI supporters converged on the site on February 11, 2011, among them the leaders of DUI and other high-ranking ethnic Albanian ministers, and many then proceeded to destroy and vandalize the site.
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