After the Crisis
After the Crisis

The New Macedonian Government’s First Year in Office

Summary/Abstract: Macedonia was for more than two years shaken by a deep political crisis that started in the realm of a massive wiretapping scandal revealed in 2015. This crisis finally came to an end when an opposition-led government took power on 31 May 2017. After months of obstruction by the long-term ruling party VMRO-DPMNE and its allies, the centre-left SDSM formed a coalition with three ethnic-Albanian parties and Zoran Zaev was appointed the new Prime Minister. The article takes a closer look at how the crisis took a turn for the better and how the difficult situation after the snap elections of 11 December 2016 was resolved. It then takes stock of the development of domestic and international politics under the new government, as well as the progress of promised reforms. Overall, the government has achieved its intermediate goal and received a recommendation from the European Commission for the start of EU accession negotiations. This recommendation rewarded the ending of state capture, the increase in media freedom, and the inception of important reforms. Still, much remains to be done and most measures still have to reach the decisive stages of legislation and implementation. Progress in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration could help the new government to achieve its agenda while remaining popular with the electorate. This progress, however, is based on a resolution of the name dispute with Greece. Domestic Change in Macedonia, it seems, hinges on the willingness at the domestic and international levels to make such change happen.

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