THE REPUBLIC OF (NORTH) MACEDONIA – THE LAST DECADE

Mariyana STAMOVA

Abstract

Processes of political changes escalated in the Republic of (North) Macedonia in recent years – the second decade of the 21st century, and especially after 2015. With the help of the external factor and as a result of the internal political events during those years, the situation in the RNM is characterised with three key changes: of the power, name and Constitution of the state. The ten years during which the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (IMRO-DPMNU) and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski were in power (2006–2016) generated tension among some of the leading political parties, notably the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDUM). They accused him of corruption and of stopping the processes of NATO and EU accession. A real opportunity for change of the rule in the RNM was created with the Pržino Agreement (2015) and with the active assistance of the EU representatives. Prime Minister Gruevski’s firm stand against the change of the country’s name under pressure and on its evaluation with a view to NATO and EU accession was not well received in the Western world. On its part, precisely SDUM was the party whose president Zoran Zaev openly and clearly supported the name change. That was a painful issue for a large part of the population of the RNM, but real conditions for a change of the name existed on account of the country’s ethnic composition. The Albanian community took a firm stand in support of the new name. They skilfully used the signing of the Prespa Agreement between the RNM and Greece in 2018 to expand their rights and to make the Albanian language official over the entire territory of the country. Improved relations with the neighbours were an important prerequisite for NATO accession and for the start of the EU negotiations. In this connection, the agreement with Greece was preceded by an agreement between the RNM and Bulgaria. A serious challenge before the stabilisation and the process of EU integration of the RNM is perceived not only in the internal influence expressed with weak political elites, enormous economic problems, constant tension in the inter-ethnic relations, failure to cope with the corruption and the existing political revenge seeking, but also in the external influence, complying with the implementation of the agreements with the neighbours.

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