Understanding the Ohrid Framework Agreement

Abstract

The Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) was signed on 13 August 2001. The signing of this agreement was a response to the armed conflict in Macedonia between the Macedonian Army and police and the paramilitary Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA). With the OFA, some of the demands of the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia were accepted. Even though officially signed in Skopje, the agreement was called the Ohrid Framework Agreement due to the fact that the signing was preceded by a series of negotiations that took place mainly in Ohrid. The signatories of the OFA were the leaders of the four biggest political parties in Macedonia (the two biggest ethnic Macedonian and the two biggest ethnic Albanian parties), the president, and one special representative each of the USA and the European Union (EU)1, respectively. Therefore, the agreement is guaranteed by the international community. Nevertheless, there was no official UN resolution, similar to that for Kosovo’s conflict, for example.2 The purpose of this chapter is to analyze and comment on all ten points in the agreement which provided a foundation for a new power-sharing system and internal restructuring of Macedonia, mainly through constitutional amendments, and passing new and revising old laws. In spite of the fact that the OFA may seem controversial, it was a response to the circumstances in which it was signed — an armed conflict and harsh international pressure. Debates on the decisions of the agreement, its meaning, and role continue today.