BASIC INFORMATION

Full Country Name: Republic of Macedonia

Area: 25,333 sq. km (9,928 sq. mi)
Population: 2,071,210 (July 2004 est.)
Capital city: Skopje (pop: 506,926 - 2002 Census)
People: (2002 Census) Macedonian 64%, Albanian 25%, Turkish 4%, Roma 3%, Serb 2%, Bosniaks 0.5%, Vlachs 0.5%, Others 1%
Languages: Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Serbian
Religion: Orthodox 67%, Muslim 30%
Currency: Macedonian Denar
Major political parties: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation – Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), New Social Democratic Party (NSDP), Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation – People’s Party (VMRO-Narodna), Democratic Party for Integration (DUI), Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP), Libeal Party (LP), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Socialist Party of Macedonia (SP), Democratic Renewal of Macedonia (DOM), Party for European Integration (PEI).
Media: There are five National and numerous regional TV stations covering Skopje area and other regions throughout . One TV station is state owned and the rest are privately owned.
Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Head of State: President Branko Crvenkovski
Prime Minister: Mr. Nikola Gruevski
Foreign Minister: Mr. Antonio Milosevski

Membership of international groupings / organisations: Candidate Country for EU Membership, Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe (COE), South-East Europe Cooperation Process, Stabilisation and Association Agreement with EU, Membership Action Plan with NATO since 1999. Partnership for Peace (PfP) with NATO. Member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Central Europe Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).

GEOGRAPHY

Bordered by including Kosovo to the north, to the east, to the south and to the west. It is a land-locked mountain territory with deep valleys and basins, and has three large natural lakes. The river Vardar bisects the country.

HISTORY

Recent History

Independence

On 9 September 1991, Macedonians overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence from . This led to the adoption on 20 November 1991 of a new constitution, which proclaimed the 'Republic of Macedonia' as a sovereign and independent state. In March 1992 the peaceful withdrawal of the Yugoslav army from its territory was successfully negotiated.

The name Macedonia

The constitutional name for this country is the Republic of Macedonia. International recognition of 's split from in 1991 was held up over Greek fears that the country's name implied territorial ambitions on the northern Greek region of . The designation 'The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)' was the term adopted temporarily until a solution could be found. Macedonians do not use the acronym 'FYROM' and they dislike its use by others. However, discussions continue under UN auspices to reach a mutually acceptable solution on this issue. The uses the Republic of Macedonia in bilateral relations but in certain international fora uses The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In 2004, the US Government decided to recognise under its constitutional name.

Inter-communal Relations

Albanians form the principal minority, comprising 25% of the population according to the census of 2002, the results of which were announced on 1 December 2003. They live mainly in the west of the country, neighbouring and Kosovo. At the end of 1994, inter-ethnic tension increased following the establishment by radical Albanians of an unofficial, unrecognised Albanian-language 'university' in Tetovo, western . A private, official trilingual University offering education in Albanian was created with the help of the international community in 2000. Named the South East Europe University, it is also in Tetovo. Since 2005, Tetovo University has been legally recognised .

Conflict in 2001

Stability in was seriously affected by the Kosovo crisis in 1999, during which the country received around 300,000 refugees. Violence between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the security forces broke out in February 2001, starting with a number of isolated incidents between the ‘National Liberation Army’ (NLA) and the Macedonian police in the areas of Tanusevci, near the Kosovo border. Macedonian forces were able to establish tentative control of the area towards the end of March. After a lull, violence resumed in late April with an attack that left eight members of the Government forces dead; in early May the NLA seized villages near the northern town of Kumanovo. Following the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU on 9 April 2001 (see below), a parliamentary 'Europe Committee' was established as a means of enhancing political and particularly inter-ethnic dialogue. As the situation deteriorated, however, the political dialogue made little progress. The humanitarian situation worsened, particularly in the NLA-held villages. Tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians managed to flee the fighting to southern Kosovo and , whilst ethnic Macedonians tended to flee to other parts of the country. According to UNHCR monitoring, most refugees and internally displaced persons were accommodated by local families.

The Ohrid Framework Agreement

Fighting was interrupted in June when NATO negotiated a cease-fire between the two sides. The cease-fire more or less held whilst peace talks continued between the ethnic Albanian and Macedonian political leaders and the late President Trajkovski. These talks, facilitated by the European Union, NATO, the and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), produced a settlement based around a Framework Agreement. In broad terms the Agreement called for an end to the conflict by disarming the NLA, offering them an amnesty, and initiating a reform process to address ethnic Albanian aspirations. It was formally signed in Ohrid on 13 August. In late August, as called for in the Framework Agreement, NATO deployed a Task Force 'Essential Harvest', comprising over 3000 troops, to collect weapons volunteered by the NLA. The mission was successful and during September and early October, the level of violence in the country greatly reduced whilst the political process concentrated efforts on implementing the Framework Agreement.
After much prevarication, the Macedonian Parliament formally ratified the constitutional changes as agreed at Ohrid on 16 November. President Trajkovski promulgated an amnesty for former NLA fighters and an enhanced mission of international monitors was deployed to facilitate both the return of displaced people to their homes and of the Macedonian police to the conflictive areas. Approximately 95% of these people have now returned to their homes or resettled. Successive NATO task forces provided necessary security until the 31 March 2003 when this duty was passed over to the first EU military mission, Operation Concordia, which terminated on 15 December 2003. On the same date, the second ever EU Police Mission, Proxima, was launched. This mission advised the police in in order to further develop an efficient and professional police service that lives up to European Standards. Proxima’s mandate came to an end in December 2005 and was replaced by the European Union Police Advisory Team (EUPAT). EUPAT closed down in June 2006

On 8 March 2002, the Macedonian Parliament passed an Amnesty Law, providing amnesty to those involved in the conflict. In the summer of 2004, a package of laws on decentralisation was passed. A referendum to go back to the 1996 laws was called and held on 7 November. The referendum failed due to low voter turnout (26% turnout against a required 50% plus one quorum). On 15 July 2005, the Macedonian Parliament passed legislation covering the display of national flags and symbols. This completed the legislative agenda of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.

Longer Historical Perspective

POLITICS

Recent Political Developments

held its first multi-party elections in October 1990 when it was still part of . The nationalist Macedonian Internal Revolutionary Movement (VMRO) won the most seats, but a bloc including Kiro Gligorov's Social Democratic Alliance (SDSM), the Liberal Party and the Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) held a majority. Gligorov became President of the new Republic and was re-elected as President for a five-year term in 1994. At 's third parliamentary elections since independence in October / November 1998, the opposition VMRO/Democratic Alternative (centre party led by Vasil Tupurkovski) alliance won with an overall majority of 62 out of 120 seats. They asked the radical Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) to join them in the governing coalition. Ljubco Georgievski, leader of VMRO, became the Prime Minister. Boris Trajkovski, who had served as Deputy Foreign Minister in Georgievski's government, was inaugurated as President on 15 December 1999, after two rounds of elections in which his main opponent was Tito Petkovski of the SDSM. Municipal elections held in September/October 2000 were again marred by some irregularities and a number of violent incidents.

At the height of the crisis in May 2001 a broad coalition government, including the former opposition SDSM and PDP was formed. The SDSM withdrew on 20 November once parliamentary ratification of the Framework Agreement was complete. Georgievski then reconstituted his government including other minor parties.

The third Parliamentary Elections were held on 15 September 2002 and were considered to be largely fair, free and peaceful. The new government composition was a coalition of two ethnic Macedonian parties (the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)), and the main ethnic Albanian party (the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)), a successor party to the National Liberation Army of 2001 and led by former NLA commander Ali Ahmeti. The official turnout on the Election Day was 73.15%. The State Election Commission announced on 27 September that the SDSM and LDP led coalition 'For Macedonia Together' won 60 seats; VMRO-DPMNE and LP won 33 seats; DUI 16 seats; DPA 7 seats; PDP 2 seats; NDP 1 seat and SPM 1 seat.

The fourth Parliamentary Elections were held on 5 July 2006. The OSCE declared that the elections had generally met international standard despite isolated incidents during the election campaign and isolated irregularities on polling day itself. The official turnout on the Election Day itself was 56%. After a revote in some polling stations on 19 July 2006, the State Election Commission announced that the VMRO-DPMNE led coalition held 45 parliamentary seats (44 before the revote). DUI-PDP coalition – 17 (18 before the revote), SDSM led coalition – 32, DPA – 11, NSDP – 7, VMRO-National – 6 DOM N.D. PEI – 1.

On 26 August 2006, the Macedonian parliament voted in and approved the programme and composition of the new Government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with 68 votes in favour and 22 against (17 deputies of the Albanian DUI party boycotted the vote). The new government is a coalition of four ethnic Macedonian parties (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation – Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), New Social Democratic Party (NSDP), Liberal Party (LP), Socialist Party of Macedonia (SP)) and one ethnic Albanian Party (Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA)). The coalition of ethnic Albanian parties DUI-PDP that won more places in the parliament than the ethnic Albanian party DPA, was not included in the new government which led to them boycotting parliament and holding a number of peaceful protests.

Presidential elections were brought forward from the autumn to April 2004 due to the death of President Trajkovski in a plane crash on 26 February 2004. The incumbent Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski was voted in as President, and former Interior Minister Hari Kostov replaced Crvenkovski as Prime Minister. Kostov resigned on 15 November 2004 and was replaced by Vlado Buchkovski on 17 December 2004. The first round of municipal elections took place on 13 March and the second round on 27 March, with an additional second round in nine municipalities, including the city of Skopje and re-run contests in a further eleven on 10 April. The elections were held six months late due to the delayed agreement over municipal boundaries.

ECONOMY

Basic Economic Facts

GDP: Euro 4.00bn (2005)
GDP per head: Euro 2,000.00 (2005) at market rates, Euro 7,000.00 (2005) PPP (purchasing power parity).
Annual growth: GDP Growth 3.6% (2005)

When Macedonia gained independence in 1991, it was the least developed economy of all the Yugoslav republics. The disintegration of Yugoslavia and the consequent imposition of international customs control among the former Yugoslav states, together with the imposition of UN economic sanctions on Serbia and Montenegro (the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) from 1992-2000 and the Greek trade embargo from 1993-6, hindered economic growth. The economy bounced back from the effects of the Kosovo crisis better than expected, which undermined investor confidence in the region. However, the 2001 crisis in took a serious toll, pushing back 's prospects of economic revival and resulting in shrinkage of GDP by 4.5%.
The economy started top ick up in 2004, maintaining macro-economic stability and modest growth in 2005 and the first half of 2006. The new government approved by the Parliament on 26 August 2006, under Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski announced that the economy will be the cornerstone of the work plan for 2006-2010. The work plan focuses on improving living standards, increasing employment and investments, public sector reform and countering corruption. The Prime Minister also intends to build on the ongoing government’s record of nearly 4% growth, pledging to expand growth to around 7% and to reduce unemployment (officially running at 36%). During the forthcoming negotiations with IMF, the Prime Minister intends to elaborate details and to ask an increase of the current Stand by Arrangement of 0.6% budget deficit to 1.5% in order to provide him with the leeway he needs to accomplish economic reforms.

’s biggest trading partner is now the EU, accounting for 55% of Macedonian exports and 45% of imports. Other major trading partners are , , , , , , , the and the .

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

's Relations with Neighbours

enjoys normal relations with all her neighbours. In September 1995 and signed an Interim Accord facilitating the normalisation of relations. This followed three years of difficult relations during which had blockaded . had objected to the use of the name '' and of the Vergina star on its national flag, saying this implied a territorial claim on the region of bearing the same name. recognised under the name '' (fYROM) as an independent state. Talks are continuing under UN auspices to find a solution to the name issue. Relations with have improved dramatically since the return to democratic rule in Belgrade. At the February 2001 summit of the SouthEast Europe Co-operation Process in Skopje, a historic agreement was reached between and SaM (then FRY) on the delineation of their long-contested common border. also enjoys good relations with and . With the latter has cross border co-operation to fight organised crime and security threats.

's Relations with the International Community

signed a Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU on 29 April 1997, which came into force on 1 January 1998. was the first candidate for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, signed on 9 April 2001. She subsequently submitted a formal EU membership application on 22 March 2004. The European Commission published its avis on 9 November and recommended that be granted EU membership candidate status. No date has been set for the start of accession negotiations. The December European Council concurred with the Commission's recommendation. A NATO Membership Action Plan has been agreed. The OSCE 'Spillover Mission', established in Skopje in November 1992 with the aim of preventing the breakdown in the rest of the former Yugoslavia spreading to Macedonia, has continued to monitor ethnic and wider political divisions in the country, and is playing a key part in the post-conflict confidence-building process.