Macedonia is Moving Backwards, Kurt Volker

Volker has experience with Balkans affairs | Photo by: Atlantic Council

In an interview aired this week on Alfa TV, the director of the US-based think tank, the Centre for Transatlantic Relations, blamed Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for "elevating a sense of nationalism” to distract people from their real problems.

"It is very sad to see how the country has been held back, not investing in the things that are necessary to advance, like political freedoms, democratic institutions, a strong economy, and integration into the EU and NATO," Volker said.

From 1999 to 2001, Volker was deputy director of the private office of NATO's then Secretary General, Lord Robertson. In this capacity he was involved in NATO's efforts to help end the 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia.

"Naturally it [the name dispute with Greece] is a very emotional issue, so you can rally people that way but it is really not serving the people well," Volker said.

"What about the ability to get a job, what about corruption, the courts system, organized crime and infrastructure, all the things that can build a country?" he asked.

Volker said he was concerned about the state of media freedom in the country, which he said had declined over the past few years. He fears that the government's grip on the media may prevent Macedonians from seeing the whole picture during the campaign for the June 5 early elections.

"Gruevski can make his case about the ways he wants to lead Macedonia but people have to be able to listen to the alternatives," he said.

Concerning the "name" dispute with Greece that has prevented Macedonia from entering NATO since 2008, and which is now impeding the country’s progress to the EU as well, Volker said he was not an optimist.

“Unfortunately it [the dispute] has dragged on far too long," Volker said. "It has gotten harder over time to reach a solution rather than easier, because of the way national sentiment has been used as a political device."

Volker said it was a "travesty" that such an issue had prevented Macedonia from moving forward in the first place. However, he said that the slow pace of reforms at home was also a problem.

"A few years ago people had great confidence in Macedonia and it [NATO membership] would not have been a problem without the 'name' dispute. Now you are going to see renewed emphasis on meeting the standards coming from NATO and the EU," he said.

Volker said that although Macedonia could survive without NATO and the EU, it was not in Macedonia’s interest to postpone a solution to the name dispute and be left behind while all of its neighbours make progress.