Encyclopedia
The
Republic of Macedonia , often referred to as
Macedonia, is a
landlocked country on the
Balkan peninsula in southeastern
Europe. It borders
Serbia to the north,
Albania to the west,
Greece to the south, and
Bulgaria to the east. As the result of a
naming dispute with Greece, in 1993 it was admitted to the
United Nations under the provisional name
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , pending resolution of the dispute.
The capital is
Skopje, with more than 600,000 inhabitants, and there are a number of smaller cities, notably
Bitola,
Prilep, Tetovo,
Kumanovo,
Ohrid, Veles, Štip, and Strumica. It has more than 50 natural and artificial lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2,000 meters above
sea level.
The country is a member of the
UN and the
Council of Europe and an associate member of
La Francophonie, the
World Trade Organization , the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Since December 2005 it is also a candidate for joining the
European Union and has applied for
NATO membership.
History
The lands governed by the Republic of Macedonia were previously the southernmost part of the Socialist Federated Republic of
Yugoslavia. Its current borders were fixed shortly after
World War II when the government of
Yugoslavia established the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia, recognizing the Macedonian ethnicity, and the region as a separate nation within Yugoslavia.
In the past, these lands came under a number of ancient states and former empires; Paionia, the kingdom of ancient
Macedon . It must be noted though, that the ancient kingdom of
Macedon was centered in what is known today as Greek Macedonia and its boundaries did not span north of the town
Bitola.Later, in 146 BC, the area became part of the
Roman and
Byzantine empires, becoming Christian in the 3rd and 4th century.
In the late 6th century AD Byzantine control over the area disintegrated, and the region was submerged by the arrival from the north of pagan
Slavic tribes, that assimilated the preexisting Illyrian,Thracian, Greek and Latin-speaking inhabitants. In the 9th century the territory converted to Christianity through the evangelizing work of the
Saints Cyril and Methodius and their disciples. In the same century the
First Bulgarian Empire assumed control of most of the area.
The Byzantines reassumed full control of the
Balkans by the early 11th century, but by the late 12th century Byzantine decline brought to the birth of the
Second Bulgarian Empire. The empire early met with political difficulties, and Macedonia fell once again in Byzantine control, and in the 14th century it became part of the
Serbian Empire, only to pass a few decades later in
Ottoman hands, under whose rule it was to remain for five centuries.
Following the two
Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the region of Macedonia was divided between
Greece,
Bulgaria and
Serbia. The territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia was then named
, "Southern Serbia". After the
First World War Serbia joined the newly formed
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929, the kingdom was officially renamed the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia and divided into provinces called banovinas. So called "Southern Serbia", including all of what is now the Republic of Macedonia, became a part of the
Vardar Banovina.
In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by the
Axis Powers and the Vardar Banovina was divided between
Bulgaria and
Italian-occupied
Albania. Harsh rule by the occupying forces encouraged many Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of
Josip Broz Tito. After the end of the
Second World War, when Tito became Yugoslavia's president, the
People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was established. The
People's Republic of Macedonia became one of the six republics of the Yugoslav federation. Following the federation's renaming as the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963, the People's Republic of Macedonia was likewise renamed, becoming the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia. It dropped the "Socialist" from its name in 1991 when it peacefully seceded from Yugoslavia. A few very minor changes to its border with Serbia were agreed upon to resolve problems with the demarcation line between the two countries.
The country officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence day, with regard to the referendum, endorsing independence from Yugoslavia, albeit legalizing participation in future union of the former states of Yugoslavia. The Republic of Macedonia remained at peace through the
Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s but was destabilized by the
Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000
ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country. Although they departed shortly after the war, soon after,
Albanian radicals on both sides of the border took up arms in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of the Republic. A
short war was fought between government and ethnic Albanian rebels, mostly in the north and west of the country, in March–June 2001. This war ended with the intervention of a
NATO ceasefire monitoring force. In the Ohrid Agreement, the government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority. The Albanian side agreed to give up any separatist demands and to fully recognise all Macedonian institutions. In addition, according to this accord the NLA was to disarm and hand over their weapons to a NATO force. In 2005, Macedonia was officially recognized, under the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as a
European Union candidate state.
Politics
The Republic of Macedonia is a
parliamentary democracy with an executive government composed of a coalition of parties from the unicameral legislature and an independent judicial branch with a constitutional court. The Assembly is made up of 120 seats and the members are elected every four years.
The role of the President of the Republic is mostly ceremonial, with the real power resting in the hands of the President of the Government. The President is the commander-in-chief of the state armed forces and a president of the state Security Council. The President of the Republic is elected every five years and he or she can be elected twice at most. The current President is
Branko Crvenkovski.
With the passage of a new law and elections held in 2005, local government functions are divided between 78 municipalities . The capital,
Skopje, is governed as a group of ten municipalities collectively referred to as "the City of Skopje". Municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia are units of local self-government. Neighbouring municipalities may establish cooperative arrangements.
Judiciary power is exercised by courts, with the court system being headed by the Judicial Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and the Republican Judicial Council. The assembly appoints the judges.
The country's main political divergence is between the largely ethnically-based political parties representing the country's ethnic Slav majority and Albanian minority. The issue of the power balance between the two communities led to a brief war in 2001, following which a power-sharing agreement was reached. In August 2004, the Republic's parliament passed legislation redrawing local boundaries and giving greater local autonomy to ethnic Albanians in areas where they predominate.
After a troublesome pre-election campaign, the country saw a relatively calm and democratic change of government in the elections held on 5 July 2006. The elections were marked by a decisive victory of the centre-right party
VMRO-DPMNE led by Nikola Gruevski.
Gruevski's decision to include the Democratic Party of Albanians in the new government, instead of the
Democratic Union for Integration -
Party for Democratic Prosperity coalition which won the majority of the Albanian votes, triggered protests throughout the Albanian-dominated parts of the country.
Foreign relations
The Republic of Macedonia is a member of a number of international organisations such as the
United Nations,
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Council of Europe, associate member of
La Francophonie,
World Trade Organization etc. It is seeking to join
NATO and the
European Union, although its accession to either is unlikely to occur before 2008 and 2012, respectively. In December 2005, the leaders of the EU formally named it as a
candidate country but did not set a date for starting entry talks.
The
United States Agency for International Development has underwritten a project called Macedonia Connects which has made the Republic of Macedonia the first all broadband wireless country its size or larger in the world. The Ministry of Education and Sciences reports that 461 schools are now connected to the internet. In addition, the Internet Service Provider named On.net has created a MESH Network to provide WIFI services in the 11 largest cities/towns in the country.
Diplomatic representation
Macedonia is represented abroad by embassies in the following countries: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, People's Republic of China, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and the Vatican.
Macedonia also maintains consulates in Pristina, Kosovo; Thessaloniki, Greece; Toronto, Canada; Detroit, USA; Istanbul, Turkey and Podgorica, Montenegro. Macedonia also has permanent missions at the UN, NATO, EU, UNESCO, Council of Europe, and FAO headquarters. There is currently no representation in Taiwan since 2001 when diplomatic relations were formally severed between the two countries and the Macedonian embassy in Beijing was reopened.
Greece
The Republic of Macedonia generally has good relationships with
Greece. However, the
naming dispute inhibited the establishment of full diplomatic relations so far but has not prevented Greece and the Republic from engaging in military and security co-operation, cross-border investments, and cultural exchanges. The November 2005 European Commission report states that,
"Relations with Greece have improved in the last few years. Greece is the most important investor in the country and trade has been constantly increasing."Former Greek foreign minister, M. Papakonstandinou, clearly expressed Athens' position towards the republic, "
Greek interests demand that this state survives. It must exist [...] This is the firm position of [both ND and PASOK].".
Due to the dispute over the name, the
United Nations agreed to a provisional name — "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" — when it became a member state in 1993 . Most international organizations adopted the same convention, including the
European Union,
NATO, the
International Monetary Fund, the
European Broadcasting Union, and the International Olympic Committee, among others. The
EU recognises the country as the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the negotiations with the EU are held using this reference .
However, an increasing number of countries have abandoned the
United Nations provisional references and have recognised the country as the
Republic of Macedonia instead. These include three of the five permanent
UN Security Council members: the
United States,
Russia, and the
People's Republic of China, although as the UN name for the country is FYROM, the constitutional name is only used in relations where a state not recognizing it is not a party.
From 1992 to 1995, the two countries also engaged in a dispute over the Republic's first flag, which incorporated the
Vergina Sun symbol, a symbol of the ancient Kingdom of
Macedon. Its adoption by the Republic of Macedonia, on 3 July 1992, was seen as a reaction by Skopje to Athens' pressure to change the name. This aspect of the dispute was permanently resolved after an interim accord between the two states, when the flag was changed by an act of parliament, in October 1995.
Bulgaria
The Republic of Macedonia maintains good relations with the Republic of
Bulgaria. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonian independence. Many Macedonian students matriculate in Bulgarian universities. Bulgaria also supports the Macedonian bid to enter the EU and NATO. Bulgaria also donated tanks, artillery and other materials to the Macedonian army.
The basic problem in the relationship between the Republic of Macedonia and
Bulgaria is the latter's refusal to recognise the existence of a separate Macedonian ethnicity, instead considering Macedonians to be Bulgarians and their language as a regional "norm" based on local Bulgarian dialects . Issues have been raised over what many Bulgarians view as appropriation and falsification of their history, and the treatment in Macedonia of people espousing a Bulgarian national identity. The pro-Bulgarian organization "Radko" for example had been publicly harassed after they demonstrated in front of the Macedonian parliament and claimed that there is no Macedonian nation today, and the perpetrators were acclaimed as heroes by the media.
European Union candidacy and membership
The EU leaders on the meeting held in
Thessaloniki in 2003 promised western Balkan countries that they will become an integral part of the EU, once they meet the established criteria. As part of the
ongoing efforts to expand its membership, the
European Union granted the Republic of Macedonia candidate status on 17 December 2005, but with no promise of when such negotiations could start.
France had made a budget deal as a condition for granting the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia candidate status and Greece agreed not to veto the decision on the premise that the name dispute will be resolved. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia applied for full membership on 22 March 2004.
Vlado Buckovski, then minister of defence and later prime minister, hailed the decision as a "one-way ticket" to the EU for his country.
According to the EU, namely in accordance with its
Copenhagen criteria, the main obstacles towards eventual EU membership for Republic of Macedonia concern good relations with neighbouring countries and reforms to its judicial and police systems. Also, growth rate lags behind that of most EU members, unemployment is high, and foreign investment is relatively low. The decentralisation process imposed after the six-month conflict in 2001 still requires full implementation. In principle, the relatively low population and European characteristics of the Republic promise few strains on the EU budget. On a press conference held in March 2006, German chancellor
Angela Merkel suggested a
privileged partnership for potential members. Following the refusals of European constitution by the French and Dutch voters, EU is in a
period of reflection that can last for several years. This decision seems to delay the prospect of EU membership for candidates like Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey for some period. French warned that they want strict application of the notion of
absorption capacity for the EU - a concept which has existed since 1993 but which has rarely been highlighted.
Another problem in the relations between the
EU and the Republic of Macedonia is the EU visa regime with the country, fostering resentment and inhibiting progress on trade, business, education etc, contributing negatively to regional stability. .
In February 2006, the Republic became the fourth member of the
Central European Free Trade Agreement , joining
Croatia,
Bulgaria and
Romania. CEFTA acts as 'sandbox' to encourage joint efforts for the integration of participating countries in Western European institutions and look for opportunities for close economic and political co-operation.
A factor of outmost importance for the country's accession in EU, is that of the
naming dispute with
Greece. On August 29, 2006, the Greek foreign minister, Ms.
Dora Bakoyannis, affirmed that
"...the Hellenic Parliament, under any composition, will not ratify the accession of the neighbouring country to the EU and NATO if the name issue is not resolved beforehand."Administrative divisions
In August 2004, Macedonia was reorganized into 84 municipalities , 10 of which comprise
Greater Skopje. This is reduced from the previous 123 municipalities established in September, 1996. Prior to this, local government was organized into 34 administrative districts.
Geography
The Republic of Macedonia is a
landlocked country that is geographically clearly defined by a central valley formed by the Vardar river and framed along its borders by mountain ranges.
The Republic's terrain is mostly rugged, located between the Šara and
Rhodope, which frame the valley of the
Vardar river. Three large lakes —
Lake Ohrid,
Lake Prespa and Dojran Lake — lie on the southern borders of the Republic, bisected by the frontiers with Albania and Greece. Ohrid is considered to be one of the oldest lakes and biotopes in the world . The region is seismically active and has been the site of destructive earthquakes in the past, most recently in 1963 when
Skopje was heavily damaged by a major earthquake, killing over 1,000.
The Republic of Macedonia also has scenic mountains. They belong to two different ranges: Dinarska and Rodopska. The Dinarska range is the oldest with subsequent erosion; the Rodopska range is younger offering rugged, alpine sceneries.
Ten highest mountains in the Republic of Macedonia:
|-
|Mount Korab >| 2,764 m | >-
|Shara Mountain | 2,747 m | 9,012 ft |
| Baba Mountain | 2,601 m | 8,533 ft |
| Jakupica | 2,540 m | 8,333 ft |
| Nidze | 2,521 m | 8,271 ft |
| Deshat | 2,373 m | 7,785 ft |
| Galichica | 2,288 m | 7,507 ft |
| Stogovo | 2,273 m | 7,457 ft |
| Jablanica | 2,257 m | 7,405 ft |
| Mount Bistra | 2,163 m | 7,096 ft |
Economy
Today the Republic of Macedonia is considered a country with an intermediary-developed industry, with continuing growth of the industrial production. The process of transition in the economy was triggered in 1995. The government has signed arrangements with the IMF and
World Bank. It has an open economy that is integrating into international trade, with a total trade-to-
GDP ratio of 79.5%. The most important sectors are agriculture and industry. The service sector also grew in the past few years. Work force education and skills are competitive, but without adequate jobs leading to steady brain drain. The country's economic policy is to attract foreign investments and to increase employment rate. One of the biggest features of the country economy is the fiscal discipline which maintained stable course of the currency for a long period. The country also makes effort to develop Small and Medium-Size Enterprise sector.
Looking back, the country together with
Montenegro,
Bosnia and Hercegovina and
Kosovo belonged to the less developed regions in the former Yugoslavia. It suffered severe economic difficulties after independence, when the Yugoslav internal market collapsed and subsidies from Belgrade ended. In addition, it faced many of the same problems faced by other former socialist East European countries during the transition to a market economy. Its main land and rail exports route, through
Serbia, remains unreliable with high transit costs, thereby affecting the export of its formerly highly profitable, early vegetables market to Germany.
The outbreak of the
Yugoslav wars and the imposition of sanctions on
Serbia and
Montenegro caused great damage to the Republic's economy, with Serbia constituting 60% of its markets prior to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. When Greece imposed a trade embargo on the Republic in 1994–95, the economy was also affected. Some relief was afforded by the end of the Bosnian war in November 1995 and the lifting of the Greek embargo, but the
Kosovo War of 1999 and the 2001 Albanian crisis caused further destabilization. Since the end of the Greek embargo,
Greece has become the most important business partner of the Republic of Macedonia. Many Greek companies have bought former state companies in the country, such as the oil refinery Okta, the baking company Zhito Luks, marble mine in
Prilep, textile facilities in
Bitola etc. Other key partners are
Germany,
Italy and
Slovenia.
The Macedonian economy has since made a sluggish recovery, though the extent of
unemployment, the grey market, corruption and a relatively ineffective legal system keep growth rate low and cause significant problems. The Republic still has one of the lowest per capita GDPs in Europe. The official unemployment rate is 38%. The active population numbers 877,798 people with 318,096 of them unemployed. However, many of the employed go unreported, therefore it is more than likely that the unemployment rate is closer to 25%. This is reflected in the large grey market, estimated at close to 20% of GDP
Growth barely recovered in 2002 to 0.9%, then rose by 3.4% in 2003, 2.9% in 2004, and 3.7% in 2005. The past few years saw a significant rise in the economy and with the recent candidacy for the EU, the country should be making rapid progress.
Demographics
Population
The Republic of Macedonia has a population of approximately 2,070,000 citizens, according to the last population
census in 2002 with 58% of the population living in urban areas. Following is a list of the largest Macedonian cities according to the 1994 census data as more recent census does not list city populations and municipalities according to the 2002 census data:
| Largest Macedonian cities and municipalities |
| City | Population | Coat
of arms | Administrative division | Population |
| Skopje | 444,000 | | Greater Skopje | 506,000 |
| Bitola | 122,173 | | Bitola municipality | 95,000 |
| Kumanovo | 71,000 | | Kumanovo municipality | 105,000 |
| Prilep | 68,000 | | Prilep municipality | 86,000 |
| Tetovo | 50,000 | | Tetovo municipality | 81,000 |
| Gostivar | 46,000 | | Gostivar municipality | 76,000 |
| Štip | 41,000 | | Štip municipality | 63,000 |
| Ohrid | 41,000 | | Ohrid municipality |
