The Primordialisation of Ethnic Nationalism in Macedonia

Living with Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe: Social Identity and the Role of Moral Disengagement

“…Positioned at the historical and cultural cross-roads of Southeast Europe and the “Orient”, it is riddled with paradoxes. Consistently ranked among the 10 best countries for ease of business, it has a turbulent political landscape, ethnic tensions with its Albanian minority, a turbulent accession to the EU (i.e., name change issues), the most significant population brain drain in Europe and a surreal transformation of its capital into a grandiose ethnocratic theme park (Vangelov, 2019 ).…”

“…The 2017 political pivot and the exile of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who ended up in Hungary, spurred cautious hope over new signs of democratization and attempts to address corruption. Mr. Gruevski personified the grandiose, grotesque, Alexandrian nationalistic renaissance of Macedonia (Vangelov, 2019 ). However, despite this political change, North Macedonia remains plagued by organized crime and populist political elites, its society and economy paralyzed by the unprecedented brain drain of over a quarter of its population.…”

“…However, despite this political change, North Macedonia remains plagued by organized crime and populist political elites, its society and economy paralyzed by the unprecedented brain drain of over a quarter of its population. Those who remain are at the mercy of negative selection, creating a dangerous backsliding dynamic (Vangelov, 2019 ).…”

“…The 2008 Greek veto of Macedonia’s joining NATO due to the name issue (as Macedonia is also a region in the north of Greece) gave rise to Gruevski’s identity politics and set in motion a physical, cultural and philosophical transformation of Macedonian society to boost collective self-esteem. The 2014 Skopje development project turned the capital into a grotesque, autocratic, ethno-nationalistic theme park that included brass statues, neo-Hellenic marble architecture and even a galley ship in a land-locked country (Vangelov, 2019 ).…”

Rule of law and democracy in the Western Balkans: addressing the gap between policies and practice

“…Particularly worrisome is the trend of abusing state bodies in order to limit the scope or prevent the work of journalists. 5 The most illustrative example of such practice was the secret police's unauthorized surveillance of journalists in North Macedonia in 2015, which caused both political crisis and media controversy in the country, contributing to a growing atmosphere of caution and self-censorship among Macedonian journalists (Vangelov 2019). As seen in the case of Zrenjaninske novine in Serbia, the government uses its tax policies selectively so that critical media may be shot down as a reprisal for their critical journalism, while loyal media, such as TV Pink, are allegedly allowed to owe millions of euros in unpaid taxes (Barlovac 2015).…”