Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

In early 2001 an agreement was reached on the future border between the FYROM and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, ending a ten-year-old demarcation dispute. At the same time, fighting broke out between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and the FYROM army, causing refugees to flee the area. The insurgents, known as the National Liberation Army (NLA), called for a new FYROM constitution, better rights for Albanians within the FYROM, and international mediation for their cause; they claimed that they were not trying to achieve a “Greater Albania”. However, with the approval of the West, the FYROM army succeeded in driving the NLA out of the territory they held around the northern city of Tetovo, and back across the border into Kosovo. At the same time, NATO strengthened its peacekeeping patrols on the Kosovo side of the border to prevent future infiltrations.

In order to finally bring the armed conflict to an end in a way that would extend the rights of Albanians, a new government of national unity was formed in May 2001. It brought together the centre-right coalition of Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski’s Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party of National Unity, and its ally the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), with the Social Democratic Alliance and the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP). Later in the month the prime minister stated his intention to recognize the legitimacy of the Albanian people and their language. The president also issued an amnesty to fighters in the NLA.

The following month the Macedonian army broke the truce, with escalated fighting near Skopje and other towns. In order to quell the fighting the government invited NATO into the country to participate in the peace process. The NLA’s fighters agreed to being disarmed. Operation Essential Harvest started on August 22, 2001 with the deployment of a NATO force, ostensibly made up of British armed forces, in the country to relieve the rebels of their arms and ammunition. Considered a success, the operation was followed by another—Operation Amber Fox—tasked to oversee the implementation of the peace plan which came into effect on August 13. The government ratified a number of constitutional amendments designed to improve the status of ethnic Albanians, including a formal recognition of their language, an increase in the number of Albanians in the police force, and a devolution of central powers.

Ali Ahmeti, the leader of the NLA, announced the disbanding of the army in late September. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor for the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, Carla del Ponte, began investigations into reports of war crimes attributed to both the government forces and the NLA. The excavation of graves outside Tetovo was then undertaken.

In a blow to the democratic process, the Social Democratic Alliance announced in November 2001 its decision to leave the coalition government, a move that many thought would strengthen the hand of the hardliners in the power-sharing government, who are opposed to further freedoms for ethnic Albanians. A general election was held in September 2002 in which the prime minister was defeated. Georgievski stepped aside for the return of Branko Crvenkovski, whose Social Democrats took most seats. There was also a strong showing for the Democratic Union for Integration under former Albanian rebel fighter Ali Ahmeti. In October NATO extended its peacekeeping mission for another three months.

In February 2004 President Boris Trajkovski, the man credited with bringing political stability to the country, was killed in an aeroplane crash in Bosnia. Just before his untimely death he had approved the country’s formal application to join the European Union. The election to find his successor was concluded in April 2004 when the prime minister, Branko Crvenkovski, won the second round of the campaign against Sasko Kedev by securing nearly 63 per cent of the vote. Shortly afterwards, parliament approved Hari Kostov as prime minister, but he resigned the post in November 2004. His term in office was dominated by the issue of redrawing the country’s internal borders to give greater autonomy, in heavily populated Albanian regions, to the Albanian populace. A referendum confirmed the plans in August. Crvenkovski offered the prime ministership to Vlado Buckovski in November and he was sworn in the following month.

Buckovski stepped down after the 2006 elections, held in July, in which his Social Democratic Alliance secured only 32 of the 120 seats. Significant electoral gains were made by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), which won 44 seats. Its leader, Nikola Gruevski, set about building a ruling coalition. One of its major tasks is to prepare the country for entry into the EU, after the December 2005 decision to grant FYROM candidate status.