Multi-ethnicity or Bi-nationalism? The Framework Agreement and the Future of the Macedonian State
Publisher: Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe Volume: 21 pages, pdf Description: Following a six-month armed confrontation between the Albanian paramilitary force the National Liberation Army (NLA) and the Macedonian state, international mediation between ethnic Macedonian and Albanian political leaders resulted in the signing of the Framework Agreement on 13 August 2001, which intended to put an end to the violent conflict by redressing some of the grievances of Macedonia’s Albanian community. The present article seeks to critically evaluate this agreement, assessing, in particular, the prospects for promoting peace and ethnically inclusive plural democracy in Macedonia which it seeks to attain. It will be argued that there are several deficiencies in the Framework Agreement, along with unfavourable security conditions in the region arising from organized crime and the unresolved status of Kosovo, which combine to pose a serious challenge to peace and stability in Macedonia. These deficiencies relate primarily to problems of implementation and inclusion.