Macedonia Must Recover the Spirit of Ohrid

The Ohrid Framework Agreement, OFA, ended Macedonia’s civil war between Albanian militants and ethnic Macedonians on August 13, 2001. The OFA was an historic accord. Unlike other Balkan countries where ethnic differences escalated into deadly conflict, Macedonians chose dialogue over violence to resolve their differences.

The ten-year anniversary of OFA is an opportunity to take stock. Macedonia still has a long way to go before institutionalizing the OFA’s promise and realizing its goal of integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions.

There are two competing narratives about the OFA. One credits the agreement with constitutional power sharing and enshrining the principles of inclusivity and non-discrimination. In the first few years after the OFA was signed, Macedonia adopted more than 40 laws on local government, cultural protection, education, language use, community symbols, and personal identification documents.

The EU recognized Macedonia’s progress by making it a candidate country in 2005.
In the other narrative, the OFA is aspirational; its potential unfulfilled. Many Macedonians, especially ethnic Albanians, still see Macedonia as a segregated society.

The interests of other groups, Turks, Roma, Serbs, and Vlachs, are not addressed by the OFA. There is no legal discrimination in Macedonia, but nor is there equality, inclusion or social justice.

Reality is somewhere in between these two narratives. Nikola Gruevski’s VMRO-DPMNE party, which heads the coalition government, never fully embraced the OFA. Party leaders feel it was imposed by the international community.

VMRO-DPMNE has an expedient but uneasy relationship with its coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, which succeeded the National Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian force that was disarmed and demobilized at the end of Macedonia’s civil war.

Progress stalled after 2005, as a result of weak institutions and lack of political will. Recently, Macedonia is moving in the wrong direction, regressing in the important areas of rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, countering corruption and an independent media.

Macedonia has failed to realize specific benchmarks set out in the OFA. Fiscal decentralization has been uneven. Per capita expenditures for education, health care, and infrastructure investment remain far higher for the Macedonian community.

The employment rate of Macedonians is double that of ethnic Albanians. While the OFA institutionalizes affirmative action in employment, the political parties distribute jobs as reward to loyalists.

Minority language rights have not been fully realized. A 2007 decision by the constitutional court rejected the Law on Languages, imposing restrictions on the use of Albanian in the public administration.

Many Albanians speak Macedonian, but it remains rare for Macedonians to speak Albanian. Separate schooling compounds segregation. Lack of contact gives rise to misunderstanding and mistrust.

VMRO-DPMNE caters to its base by pandering to nationalist and parochial interests. The DUI, meanwhile, is cashing-in on the OFA’s promise of greater rights with perks and profit.
VMRO-DPMNE is fixated on Macedonia’s “glorious past.”

New national and cultural symbols include a huge statue of Alexander the Great that towers above the Skopje skyline. An ongoing urban renewal project, “Macedonia 2014,” celebrates Macedonia’s classical Slavic and East Orthodox heritage but makes no mention of Mother Teresa or of the contribution of other ethnic Albanians from Macedonia.

Macedonia’s obsession with the past is rooted in chauvinism. It comes from weakness and insecurity.

Neither VMRO-DPMNE nor the DUI pays more than token attention to the OFA. The resultant stagnation is creating a society in which integration is floundering and a country whose Euro-Atlantic aspirations have gone awry.

The OFA was intended as a launch point for Macedonia’s integration into NATO and the EU.

However, Greece is blocking progress because of the continuing dispute over Macedonia’s name. After 20 years, negotiations over the issue are at an impasse. Macedonia’s NATO and EU accession are thwarted as a result.

There is no easy solution. It will require compromise, which neither side feels is historically accurate or politically desirable. The government must be flexible in its negotiations with Greece. A stalemate is in no one’s interest.

The government should renew Macedonia’s commitment to the letter and spirit of the OFA, which is the path to NATO and EU Membership. Macedonia will realize its Euro-Atlantic aspirations when Macedonians demand progress and accountability of their politicians.

As a model of preventive diplomacy, the OFA demonstrated the benefits of early engagement by the international community. The US and the European Union worked seamlessly to facilitate the agreement.

Macedonia’s major export could be its experience with the OFA. The country is a laboratory for stabilizing fragile states through devolution and constitutional arrangements protecting and promoting minority rights.

But to realize the OFA’s potential, Macedonia’s leaders need courage and vision. They also need political support from the international community, as well as investment and institution building. The US may be increasingly disengaged from the Balkans, but it still has a stake Macedonia’s success.

David L. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He is also a fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard University.