Macedonia received independence from Yugoslavia with little bloodshed in 1991, remaining almost entirely at peace during the intense Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s. It was only afterwards troubles began with the country experiencing years of ethnic strife and instability. Integrating ethnic Albanians has proved difficult, and the country has come close to civil war. In August 2001 the so-called Ohrid Framework Agreement, brokered by Western powers, halted the brinkmanship between Kosovar-Albanian communities in northern Macedonia (organized militarily in the National Liberation Army) and Macedonian forces. The agreement made Albanian an official language of Macedonia, launched administrative decentralization and required the inclusion of ethnic Albanians in the government, army and police. The process proved to be quite successful; Macedonia survived and now sees itself as a unique example of a multi-ethnic/religious society. Of course, this could have turned out very differently with the tiniest spark igniting a large fire. Macedonia believes it is a model for the region, although it still faces many problems including high unemployment (30 percent) and corruption and, as with other countries in the region, struggles to fight organized crime with criminal mafia gangs still very active. Furthermore, according to Transparency International (TI), a leading international nongovernmental organization addressing corruption, 71 percent of Macedonians paid bribes in exchange for public service in 2010.
Macedonia’s accession to NATO has been on hold since 2008. Its EU integration process hasn’t done much better, even though Macedonia has been a candidate country since 2005. Unfortunately, both processes are stuck due to the ongoing dispute over its “name,” even though “Macedonia” is recognized as the country’s constitutional name by all EU countries except Greece (member states are obliged to refer to Macedonia as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [FYROM]). At the NATO Bucharest summit of April 4, 2008, in which Croatia and Albania were invited to join NATO, Macedonia’s bid was left in limbo due to Greece’s objection, sparking harsh criticism of Athens as it was seen as a breach of the 1995 UN Interim Accord. As a result Macedonia sued Greece in the International Court of Justice. Greece’s blocking of the country’s NATO membership has been detrimental to the region’s security and stability.
Greece will not allow Macedonia to be called the Republic of Macedonia because of its own region of Macedonia. Greece claims Macedonia, if it keeps the name, might territorially claim the Greek northern province of Macedonia. In fact, these claims are grossly exaggerated and unsubstantiated and have never been part of political and public discussion in Macedonia. On the other hand, Greece’s political leadership has been using this issue to fuel populist and nationalist rhetoric for years.
Until this is resolved, Macedonia will be unable to officially start membership talks with the EU. Negotiations have been going on for over 20 years under the auspices of a UN mediator, and numerous propositions have been put forward by both sides, but none have been accepted. As with all types of conflicts, the longer it goes on the more deeply entrenched the two sides seem to become.
Clearly a breakthrough would be a massive boost to the country. Furthermore, it would give a boost to the EU integration process. To a degree, this process binds ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians. Therefore, the continued stalemate potentially could lead to deterioration in interethnic relations. So far, the main achievement with the EU has been the visa liberalization regime between the EU and Macedonia that came into force in December 2009. Furthermore, with Albania now progressing at a much faster speed towards the EU, Macedonia’s ethnic Albanians are becoming less interested in the name issue – unlike ethnic Macedonians – and are beginning to increasingly push the leadership to accept a compromise that would open the way for Macedonia’s EU integration process to pick up speed. This in turn fuels nationalism among ethnic Macedonians. If no such deal is reached, Macedonia risks not only remaining a candidate forever, but also having its fragile stability implode -- a tragedy for the country and for the entire region. It’s time to end this deadlock and give Macedonia’s citizens the brighter future they deserve.
