Macedonia's main Albanian political leader, Arben Dzaferi, issued a statement which said that the ehtnic Albanian fighters in the NLA were all Macedonians. He asserted that the NLA was not from Kosovo and that the NLA was battling for minority Albanian rights in Macedonia.. Dzaferis statement followed the announcement of a new ethnic Albanian political party in Macedonia, the National Democratic Party (NPD). The NPD supports the NLA demand that Macedonia become a federation of two entities.