Multiculturalism in Post-Ohrid Macedonia

Abstract

The Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) was supposed to herald a new era of multicultural coexistence in Macedonia following a short-lived civil war. However, antipathies between the Albanian minority and Macedonian majority run as deep as ever, frequently erupting into rioting which threatens the fragile peace on which coexistence is forged. This state of affairs appears to affirm at least one commonly voiced criticism against the OFA, namely, that the pluralisation of public life it set in place would further fragment, rather than unite, Macedonia’s diverse citizenry. This article sheds light on the persistence of volatile ethnic relations in Macedonia despite more than a decade of multiethnic democracy. It argues explanations blaming the OFA are misplaced, and that the source of Macedonia’s fraying ethnic relations lies with each community’s ongoing struggle for recognition. Under this account, conflicts are the outcome not simply of each community’s incompatible wants around access to sovereign power, prized employment, and other distributable resources but unredeemed idealisations of how they would like to be respected and esteemed by others. The article contends that such struggles for recognition are bringing Macedonians and Albanians to interact in a manner that stimulates a sense of profound wrong-doing at the hands of the other, which, in turn, serves to fuel interethnic antagonisms and widen the social distance between each group.

‘When Counting Counts’ – Europeanisation of Census-Taking in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

“…The EU census regulations were only partially accepted and the reasons for having a census are partly due to political rather than socio-economic reasons. As described above, the OFA clearly outlines the threshold of 20 per cent for the official use of other languages, but also proportional representation in the public bodies depends on the population numbers (Vasilev 2013;Brunnbauer 2002: 5;Anon 2001). In 2010, a year before the census enumeration started, politicians proclaimed that they would not accept the census methodology (Interview 12: OSCE official).…”

Counting for EU enlargement?

“…In Macedonia, the census is linked to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which stopped the armed conflict between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians in 2001. Under this agreement, minorities making up more than 20% of the population received language rights and proportional representation in the police and bureaucracy (Brunnbauer, 2002;Vasilev, 2013).…”

“…The EU census regulations were only partially accepted and the reasons for having a census were at least in part political rather than socio-economic. As described above, the OFA clearly sets a threshold of 20% for the official use of other languages, but also proportional representation in the public bodies depends on the population numbers (Brunnbauer, 2002, p. 5;OSCE, 2001;Vasilev, 2013). In 2010, a year before the census enumeration started, politicians proclaimed that they would not accept the census methodology (Interview 2: OSCE official).…”

“…In Bosnia the population data of 1991 is linked to the Dayton Peace Agreement, which divides the political system among the three constituent ethnic groups (Bosniak, Croat and Serb) (Armakolas & Maksimovic, 2014;Bieber, 2004). In Macedonia, the census is linked to the Ohrid Framework Agreement which stopped the armed conflict between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians in 2001, and according to which minorities making up more than 20% of the population receive language rights and proportional representation in the police and bureaucracy (Brunnbauer, 2002;Vasilev, 2013). In general these outcomes show that there should be more awareness of the fact that censuses are always political processes and can feed existing tensions.…”

“…In Bosnië rust het hele politieke systeem sinds het Dayton Vredesakkoord op de machtsverdeling tussen de drie etnische groepen (de Bosniaken, de Kroaten en de Serviërs) (Armakolas & Maksimovic, 2014;Bieber, 2004). In Macedonië is in het Ohrid Vredesakkoord vastgelegd dat minderheden die meer dan twintig procent van de bevolking uitmaken meer rechten krijgen voor bijvoorbeeld het gebruik van hun eigen taal (Brunnbauer, 2002;Vasilev, 2013). Dit heeft geleid tot verschillende conflictsituaties.…”