Donika Kadaj-Bujupi, an advisor to President Vjosa Osmani, has detailed the incident that occurred at Skopje Airport in North Macedonia.
Kadaj-Bujupi stated that the Macedonian side, specifically the airport security, caused an unprecedented and unnecessary incident, which she described as “completely unreasonable.”
“From the North Macedonian media, the public is being poisoned with lies and falsehoods. They are trying to present it as if the President refused to place her luggage in the scanner, as they refer to it. First of all, Osmani did not have any luggage. I was there, we were together, and I say with full responsibility that President Osmani did not have any luggage. All she had was a handbag,” Kadaj-Bujupi said.
According to her, President Osmani was asked to scan her handbag, which she did.
“When we entered the airport, contrary to the Vienna Convention and its article 23.7, President Osmani was asked to scan her handbag. The Kosovo Police, who were on duty, explained that according to international practice, not only in the region but globally, including the USA, non-recognizing countries, and all EU countries, the handbag of a president is never required to be scanned. According to the Vienna Convention, it is a diplomatic bag. The bag was scanned, and there was no doubt,” she said.
Kadaj-Bujupi also stated that the airport security physically “rushed” towards the president to confiscate her phone.
“The president holds the phone in her hand. According to all security protocols, it is a work tool for the president, where security matters are also discussed, and under no circumstances, regardless of any tendencies from other states, will the president hand over her phone, because at that moment she would be breaking the law. The president refused to put it in the scanner. They wanted to confiscate her phone. They physically tried to take it, rushed towards her, tried to take and confiscate her phone… It is unprecedented, it is scandalous, it is shocking,” Kadaj-Bujupi explained, recounting the events that occurred the previous day at Skopje Airport.
