The foundation of the independent Republic of Macedonia – A decade of international recognition (1991–2001)

Abstract

The process of the disintegration of the multinational Yugoslav federation at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s had a strong impact on the process of the constitution of an independent Macedonian state. In those years, the Yugoslav Federation underwent a transition from the one-party rule of the Union of Communists to the establishment of a pluralistic multi-party political system. After the legalization of the possibility to create new political parties in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, various parties and associations emerged, which brought great diversity to the political life of the republic and laid the foundations of party pluralism in it. The grouping of the parties is based on the attitude towards the future development of Yugoslavia, which divides them into “pro-Yugoslav” and “national”. Along with the Macedonian national parties, political parties and associations on a national and ethno-religious basis are being created in the SR Macedonia. The difficulties in the Republic of Macedonia started parallel to the process of declaring its independence and especially after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Thus, in the early 90s, after the collapse of the multinational federation and the declaration of independence of some of its republics, such as Slovenia and Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia faced serious problems in its own state. Internally - the final independence of the state and liberation from the Yugoslav People's Army, and externally - its international recognition. And while the last decade of the 20th century was mainly related to the international recognition of the Republic of Macedonia, the first decade of the 21st century saw the country face serious international problems and confrontations mainly between the Macedonian and Albanian ethnic groups in the country, as well as the dilemma of further and steps towards membership in the Euro-Atlantic structures - in the EU and NATO.