Protection of Minorities and the Prohibition of Discrimination: The Ohrid Framework AgreementOhrid Framework Agreement • June 29th, 2013
The protection of ethnic, religious and linguistic groups is one of the oldest concerns of international law. Nowadays there is no doubt that the need for protection of minorities under internal and international law has perhaps never been as urgent as in our time. The main aim of this paper is to show that establishing minority rights appears to be one of the more promising approaches to this problem. This is especially important for the Balkan countries where national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, used to be and still are the cause for international and internal state political and even armed conflicts. The Ohrid Framework Agreement is today a classic case of conflict prevention which gave the Republic of Macedonia a chance in 2001 to avoid destructive divisions and to develop as a democracy.
The Ohrid Framework Agreement in North Macedonia between its institutional implementation and political instrumentalizationOhrid Framework Agreement • July 17th, 2024
This article focuses on the peace agreement reached through international mediation in North Macedonia, known as the Ohrid Framework Agreement. In 2001, this agreement successfully brought together the conflicting parties: the government of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia), and the armed Albanian forces under the emblem of the National Liberation Army (UÇK). This agreement prevented the escalation of conflict on the scale of the Bosnian and Kosovo War, contributing to the easing of interethnic relations in North Macedonia. It aimed to advance the rights of non-Macedonian ethnic groups, particularly the rights of Albanians, who constitute numerically the second largest ethnic group in North Macedonia at around 30%, according to the latest population registration in 2022. This agreement was intended to be implemented within five years after its signing in 2001. However, even after 22 years, it remains unrealized concerning the fair representation of non-Macedonian ethnic g
ANALYSIS OF THE REFERENDUM AND THE POST- REFERENDUM SITUATION IN MACEDONIAOhrid Framework Agreement • July 21st, 2021
Signed on august 2001, The Ohrid Framework Agreement changed what was then Macedonia. Precisely with this peace deal agreement, signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) with ethnic Albanian’s rebels, was started the process of decomposition of dominant political power and establishing the new system of shared power among Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.
The Ohrid Framework Agreement at twentyOhrid Framework Agreement • April 4th, 2022
The Ohrid Framework Agreement was an ambitious effort not just to stop the fighting that convulsed the country in 2001, but also to provide a blueprint for a future, more inclusive society.
Macedonia and the Ohrid Framework Agreement: Framed Past, Elusive FutureOhrid Framework Agreement • September 10th, 2013
Macedonia was the only Yugoslavian republic to make a peaceful transition to statehood at the time of the federation’s collapse. Yet tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians over the constitutional design of the state meant it remained vulnerable to violence, to which it succumbed in 2001. Civil war was averted with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which promised to distribute power more evenly between the two. This settlement is portrayed in opposing extremes: by Macedonians, as a prelude to the demise of the country; by Albanians and the international community, as a guarantor of its existence. This paper eschews such interpretations. While it remains the best solution for preserving
Language and Identity: The Ohrid Framework Agreement and Liberal Notions of Citizenship and Nationality in MacedoniaOhrid Framework Agreement • May 21st, 2002
This paper focuses on the repercussions the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the subsequent constitutional changes in Macedonia will have on the development of the political identity of this country. First, a short overview is offered of the circumstances in which this accord was made and a comparison is made to the provisions of the old Macedonian constitution adopted in 1991. More specifically, a close analysis is offered of the changes in Macedonia’s paramount legal document in so far as they pertain to the contested issues of language and identity. It is argued that the changes to the constitution put forward a political identity of the country that can best be described as ‘millet’ or ‘ethnic’ Macedonia. When compared to a liberal theoretical framework, it is further argued that the constitutional amendments envisioned by the agreement in Ohrid do not fully support a liberal understanding of the Macedonian political nation and the equality of all its citizens. The new amendments rath
