The issue of national identity is taken seriously by Balkan people – including the least serious among them.
Macedonians Favour EU, NATO Integration
Skopje | 13 October 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic
Skopje
This according to the head of the IRI branch in Skopje, John Cavanaugh, who spoke to Voice of America Macedonian about the survey's findings.
94 per cent of Macedonians support their country's NATO accession, while 96 per cent back its entry into the EU.
This observation comes just one day before the issuance of a European Commission, EC, report on the country's reform progress, in which Skopje expects to receive a green light for its next step towards EU integration.
Cavanaugh regrets the ethnic turmoil caused last month by the publication of the controversial Macedonian encyclopaedia, which offended ethnic Albanians by calling them settlers and Shiptari - a derogatory term.
The tome was subsequently withdrawn.
Cavanaugh says this was an “unfortunate accident” that came at a bad time, only weeks before the EC report. He added that the ethnic rift created by the book's publication should be healed by community leaders.
According to Cavanaugh, Macedonians generally support the economic policy of the current centre-right government, although a slight increase in pessimism was noted in the report, due to the global economic downturn.
The International Republican Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation, funded by the US government. It conducts international political programmes and surveys, aimed at spreading democratic values worldwide.
