MACEDONIA IN EUROPE: AN UPDATE OF THE SEARCH FOR A RIGHTFUL PLACE

Abstract

After Macedonia declared independence from former Yugoslavia in September 1991, the Macedonian government began negotiations for a peaceful secession. It not only stopped providing military resources to the Yugoslav National Army and withdrew its military personnel from military service but also, recognizing that it could not handle external threat alone, requested what became the United Nations’ first-ever preventive peace-keeping mission into Macedonia. The internal unrest, however, would be dormant for the following 10 years, which eventually resulted in the reaching for the guns by 2001. Although Macedonia had secured itself from external aggression by what the Macedonians call “four wolves”, it could not escape from the Albanian – Macedonian conflict within its borders in 2001. Although the internal conflict ceased to exist with the US- and EU-brokered Ohrid Agreement, the country faced contentions on various fronts which challenged the viability of the state, particularly from Greece. The example of Macedonia stands in contrast with other Balkan states due mostly to staying out of war in 1992 – 1995 and could turn into a success story in the Balkans provided that the EU proves successful in silencing its internal disputes regarding the pronunciation of a date on which to start accession negotiations. If it happens, it would have a two-way effect: it would affirm the tenacity of reforms carried out by Macedonia and also reinforce the viability of the EU as an influential agent of post-conflict settlement, which remains to be seen

Keywords

• Macedonia, Europe, Balkans, EU

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