The Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Multiethnic Future of the Republic of Macedonia

Etem Aziri,Emine Emurllai

doi:10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p472

Abstract

Being one of the youngest countries in Europe, the Republic of Macedonia has undergone a specific and quite complicated path since the declaration of its independence in 1991. Once a self named “oasis of peace” it was faced with an internal interethnic armed conflict in 2011 which ended with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. This agreement has on the other hand become of the main symbols of the internal development of the country during the last decade. Although the OFA has not been treated equally by all interested sides, the fact remains that it is most definitively one of the main documents in the development of the country. Although one might argue that the ethnic Macedonians try to build Macedonia as a country of the Macedonians and the others while the ethnic Albanians treat Macedonia as country of the Macedonians, the Albanians and the others, one truth remains. And that undisputable truth is that Macedonia is a multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural country and its future can be build only on mutual respect. This paper strives to provide a short description of the main reasons behind the OFA and its consequences for the Republic of Macedonia and its multiethnic future. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p472

Highlights

Perhaps the most noted developments since the second world war were the “revolutionary” changes in the ex eastern blok that resulted in a major shift of the political system in these countries, replacement of communism with liberal democracy and the planned economy with a free market economy. changes started in the Eastern European Countries, they were quickly spread to the Ex Yugoslav Federation, a country comprised of people with similar yet different historical, cultural and religious background
The very text of the OFA has not been in full incorporated in the Constitution, leaving in this way much space for open debates regarding the right to use the Albanian language as official. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the tensioned debated regarding the adoption of the “Law for official usage of the language spoken by at least 20% of citizens and the units of local self-governance”, in many cases this Law introduced the main principled of OFA regarding this issue to the society in the Republic of Macedonia
The Republic of Macedonia is one of the many multi-ethnic countries in Europe. It seems that in the case of the Republic of Macedonia the shared past mostly presents an element of further divisions mostly due to a sort of a “hate’ imbedded and developed through generations

Summary

Introduction

Perhaps the most noted developments since the second world war were the “revolutionary” changes in the ex eastern blok that resulted in a major shift of the political system in these countries, replacement of communism with liberal democracy and the planned economy with a free market economy. Perhaps due to the similar ethnic composition, the Macedonian political elite seemed to follow all anti-Albanian policies created and declared by certain political circles This on the other hand, resulted in permanent worsening of the inter-ethnic relations within Macedonia. Others viewed this as the last chance for cohabitation between Albanians and Macedonians on this territory. Much is to be said when analyzing the importance of the Ohrid Framework Agreement in insuring the multiethnic character of the Republic of Macedonia, but as many authors like to say the overall survival of the Republic of Macedonia as an independent country Having this in mind one might argue that many aspects have been regulated with the OFA, much has still remained to be done. One of the starting points when discussing the reforms introduced by the OFA should be a careful analysis of the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, table 1

The official Preamble

Macedonians Albanians Others

Findings

Conclusions and recommendations