Macedonia's Ethnic Albanians: Bridging the Gulf (ICG Balkans Report No 98)
Macedonia's Ethnic Albanians: Bridging the Gulf (ICG Balkans Report No 98)

Author(s): Author Not Specified
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Inter-Ethnic Relations
Published by: ICG International Crisis Group
Summary/Abstract: Compared with the rest of the region (Montenegro apart) Macedonia1 has been something of a multi-ethnic success story. The country has thus far managed to maintain a relatively high degree of stability. Gloomy scenarios about the country’s disintegration and a possible division amongst its neighbours have not materialised. But its citizens' increasingly contradictory views of inter-ethnic relations are worrying. Ask ethnic Albanians about the state of current relations and they are likely to reply that relations have never been better. Ask ethnic Macedonians and they are likely to respond that relations have never been worse. This gulf between these two peoples is what shapes the country's uneasy coexistence. Albanians are by far the largest national minority in Macedonia, and their status within the state and their attitude towards it have a direct bearing upon Macedonia’s long-term stability and viability.

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