Macedonia: Country Profile

Skopje. Photo: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

The historic and geographic region of Macedonia encompasses a much wider territory than the present Macedonian state, including parts of western Bulgaria and northern Greece. Present-day Macedonia is made up of the part of the historic region of Macedonia handed to the Kingdom of Serbia following the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, later incorporated into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the two world wars. Following the end of the Second World War, the Republic of Macedonia was constituted as one of the six republics of Yugoslavia.

After the fall of Communism, Macedonia’s first multi-party elections were held in November 1990.

Following a successful independence referendum on September 8, 1991, Macedonia proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia. Unlike Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia, the country’s secession from Yugoslavia remained peaceful. However, Greece disputed the country’s constitutional name, arguing that it had no right to use the same name as Greece’s own northern region, which was also called Macedonia. As a result, Macedonia’s international recognition was held up, with Greece and many multilateral organizations – including the UN and EU – recognizing the country under the provisional name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM. The dispute with Greece over the country’s name continues to block Macedonia’s accession to the EU and NATO.

Simmering tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians culminated in an armed uprising by Albanians during 2001. For much of that year, Macedonian security forces fought battles with guerrillas of the Albanian National Liberation Army, NLA, in the northwest of the country. The insurgency was finally brought to an end through the Ohrid Peace Agreement, signed in August 2001, which gave the ethnic Albanian community greater rights and representation.

Relations between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians have since remained largely calm, although there have been bouts of tension and violence. While inter-ethnic tensions have gradually subsided, the increasingly authoritarian rule of the VMRO-DPMNE, led by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski since 2006, has generated tensions within the country. Since the last parliamentary elections in 2014, the opposition Social Democratic Union, SDSM, has refused to recognise the entire election process and its results, organizing protests and calling for free and fair elections to be held.

The political crisis deepened in early 2015 when the Social Democrats accused Gruevski of masterminding a mass illegal wiretapping scheme. In February that year the opposition began releasing batches of covertly recorded tapes, which it claims shows that the VMRO-DPMNE-led government was behind the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people. Among those secretly recorded were ministers, politicians from the ruling and opposition parties, businessmen, journalists, scholars and activists.

The opposition has also claimed the tapes provide evidence that top members of government and their associates were involved in serious illegal schemes including: rigging general and presidential elections in 2014; manipulating the justice system; intimidating and controlling the media; and covering up the murder of a young man by a police officer.

The ruling party has denied all these allegations, insisting that an unnamed foreign secret service gave those materials to the opposition in an attempt to destabilize the country.

As the scandal shook Gruevski’s government and boosted anti-government protests, which had the potential to escalate into violence, international mediators have sought to facilitate crisis talks that would result in reforms and setting up of fresh early general elections under more democratic conditions during the course of 2015 and 2016.

After several holdups, a renewed EU sponsored political crisis deal this summer set the elections for December 11.

Basic facts

Key events

1913 – Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Balkan Wars, the territory of present-day Macedonia was incorporated into Serbia.

1918 – Territory of present-day Macedonia becomes part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

1941 – Yugoslavia occupied and dismembered by Nazi Germany; Macedonia divided between Bulgarian and Italian occupying forces.

1945 – Following the end of the Second World War, Macedonia becomes one of the six constituent republics of what later became known as the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, SFRY, ruled by Josip Broz Tito and the League of Communists.

1974 – New Yugoslav constitution decentralizes more power from the federation to the republics.

1980 – Death of Tito.

1990 – First multi-party elections held in Macedonia as part of the transition from Communist rule.

1991 – Kiro Gligorov elected President in January; Macedonia declares independence from Yugoslavia following a successful referendum in September.

1993 – Macedonia joins the UN under the provisional name ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ due to Greek opposition to its constitutional name.

1994 – Greece imposes trade restrictions as part of the ‘name dispute’ with Macedonia.

1995 – Failed assassination attempt on President Gligorov. Following the signing of an interim agreement between Macedonia and Greece, Athens lifts trade restrictions.

1997 – Ethnic Albanians protest over a Constitutional Court decision to ban use of the Albanian flag.

1998 – Parliamentary elections bring the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE led by Ljupco Georgievski to power, together with the Democratic Party of Albanians DPA.

1999 – NATO begins a campaign of aerial bombardment against the rump Yugoslavia, dominated by Serbia. Serbian police and army operations within Kosovo lead to the expulsion of Kosovo Albanians, with tens of thousands fleeing into Macedonia.

2001 – In January, Albanian National Liberation Army, NLA, begins insurgency, which ends in August with the signing of the Ohrid Peace Agreement. A new constitution adopted in November makes Albanian an official language in parts of the country and grants the Albanian community more extensive rights.

2002 – Following September elections, the SDSM comes to power under the leadership of Branko Crvenkovski and in coalition with the Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI.

2004 – Macedonia applies for EU membership in March. The following month, Branko Crvenkovski is elected President. Parliament adopts a plan to redraw municipal boundaries and give ethnic Albanians more power at the local level.

2005 – EU grants Macedonia formal candidate status.

2006 – Parliamentary elections bring VMRO-DPMNE under the leadership of Nikola Gruevski to power.

2008 – Greece blocks an invitation for Macedonia to join NATO over the ‘name dispute’. Early parliamentary elections are won by Gruevski and VMRO-DPMNE.

2009 – Macedonia takes its ‘name dispute’ with Greece to the International Court of Justice  ICJ, in January. In presidential elections in March, VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gjorge Ivanov is elected president.

2011 – Government pressure on independent media leads the SDSM to boycott parliament, resulting in another early election in June. VMRO-DPMNE emerges as the winner, albeit short of a majority.

2012 – In December, following a brawl in parliament, which resulted in the expulsion of SDSM delegates, the opposition party boycotts parliament.

2013 – SDSM ends its boycott of parliament thanks to EU mediation.

2014 – Another early election is won by the VMRO-DPMNE, but the opposition SDSM alleges electoral fraud.

2015 – Macedonia is shaken by a political crisis centred around accusations that the government had illegally wiretapped around 20,000 citizens. After leaking some recordings of these wiretapped conversations to the public, the opposition organizes protests demanding the government’s resignation, investigation of the wiretapping affair and free and fair elections.

2016 – EU attempts to mediate an end to the crisis in Macedonia through early parliamentary elections. 

Politics and government

Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with elements of power-sharing between the two main ethnic Macedonian and Albanian communities. Although the president is directly elected, most powers are concentrated in the hands of the Prime Minister and the government.  

Government

The current President, Gjorge Ivanov, was re-elected in April 2014, following a run-off in which he won 55.28 per cent of votes, beating his opponent, Stevo Penderovski of the SDSM, who won 41.14 per cent of the votes cast.

The current interim government was elected in September 2016, consisting of a coalition between the VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, DUI and DPA. The interim government is meant to oversee the elections on 11 December 2016.

Prime Minister – Emil Dimitrev – VMRO-DPMNE

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs – Vladimir Peshevski – VMRO-DPMNE

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs – Nikola Poposki – VMRO-DPMNE

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health – Nikola Todorov – VMRO-DPMNE

Deputy Prime Minister for Implementation of the Ohrid Agreement – Festim Halili – DUI

Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs – Arbr Ademi – DUI

Minister of Finance – Kiril Minoski – VMRO DPMNE

Minister of Interior – Oliver Spasovski – SDSM

Minister of Defence – Zoran Jolevski – VMRO-DPMNE

Minister of Transport and Communication – Vlado Misajlovski – VMRO-DPMNE

Minister of Justice – Valdet Dzaferi – DUI

Minister of Agriculture – Mihail Cvetkov – VMRO-DPMNE

Minister of Economy – Driton Kuchi – DUI

Minister of Education and Science – Pishtar Lutfiu – DUI

Minister of Information Society and Administration – Marta Arsovska Tomovska – VMRO-DPMNE

Minister of Local Self-Government – Shurete Elezi – DUI

Minister of Culture – Elizabeta Kancheska Milevska – VMRO-DPMNE

Minister of Labor and Social Policy – Frosina Tashevska-Remenski – SDSM

Minister of Environment and Physical Planning – Bashkim Ameti – DUI

Minister without Portfolio – Furkan Cako – Democratic Party of Turks in Macedonia, DPTM

Minister without Portfolio – Nezhdet Mustafa – United Party for Emancipation, OPE

Minister without Portfolio – Vele Samak – VMRO DPMNE

Minister without Portfolio – Bill Pavleski – VMRO DPMNE

Minister without Portfolio – Jerry Naumoff – VMRO DPMNE

Minister without Portfolio – Arlind Zekiri – DUI

Minister without Portfolio – Goran Mickovski – VMRO DPMNE

Parliament

Parliament is made up of 123 MPs elected for a four-year term. Of these, 120 MPs are elected from six electoral districts electing 20 MPs each, while a further three MPs are elected from a constituency for diaspora voters. The current parliament was elected in April 2014, but has since been dissolved, ahead of early elections due on December 11.