Republic of Macedonia: Ethno-Political Dilemmas and Challenges in the Eurointegration Processes
Republic of Macedonia: Ethno-Political Dilemmas and Challenges in the Eurointegration Processes

Author(s): Mariana Stamova
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Inter-Ethnic Relations, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Geopolitics
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: Republic of Macedonia; EU; NATO; Ohrid Agreement; cross-national relations
Summary/Abstract: Being the only country to achieve its independence peacefully in the process of disintegration of federal Yugoslavia, the Republic of Macedonia has been facing some serious issues.While in the last decade of the XX century the focus was primarily on the international recognitionof the country, the first decade of the XXI century Macedonia needs to tackle acute internal crossnational contradictions, as well as the challenges of Euro-Atlantic integration. In 2001 the political and ethno-national situation in Macedonia has entered a qualitatively new phase. The nearly 10 years-old "Macedonian model of ethnic coexistence" in which Macedonians and Albanians were trying to find a common language of communication and apply European standards in minority policy underwent through a sharp reversal. The threat of unleashing the 2001 conflict into a civil war was thwarted with the intervention of the international community. The Ohrid Agreement was followed constitutional amendments and adoption of laws regulating local government, education and use of language, the introduction of quota representation based on ethnic lines in various state structures, including the army and security forces. The Ohrid Agreement sanctioned the new constitutional concept of a multiethnic society and thus the position of the Albanians as key institutional factor within Macedonia. The internal ethno-national dynamics undeniably has left its mark on the Euro-Atlantic integration process of Macedonia.

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