The Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is one of seven independent
countries, established following the dissolution of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. What makes Macedonia extraordinary among other former
republics of Yugoslavia, is the peaceful withdrawal from the Federation, as,
similarly to the case of Montenegro, no single gunshot has been fired against
it.
The proclamation of independence on 8th of November 1991 brought into
light what turned out to be a major security issue in relations with Greece and
Bulgaria – the so-called “Macedonian question”. The conflict has its roots in
historical processes within the Balkan region, primarily connected with the
results of the Treaty of Bucharest of 1913, ending the Balkan Wars of 1912
and 1913 and dividing the geographical region of Macedonia between
Greece (51%), Serbia (34%) and Bulgaria (15%), and with the geostrategic
position of the territory of today’s Republic of Macedonia. The region was
high on the agenda both during the Second World War (as a part of the
struggle between Bulgaria and Greece) (Papavizas, 2006, p. 104–145) and
during the Cold War (as a conflicting point between Bulgaria, Greece and
Yugoslavia) (Papavizas, 2006, p. 211–243). The “Macedonian question”
became the source of a conflict, manifested by reciprocal boycotts of Greek
food products in Macedonia and Macedonian products in Greece, problems
with crossing the common border, and most recently (April 2008) with
Greece blocking Macedonian application to NATO. Officially, the Republic
of Macedonia is recognized by 118 countries in the world, including USA,Canada, China, the Russian Federation and Turkey. Within the EU however,
only three countries recognize the Republic of Macedonia under this name –
Bulgaria, Slovenia and Poland (from 2005).
In our opinion the Republic of Macedonia fulfils many of the requirements
defined by the European Union (EU) for the applicant countries.
Analysis of the level of preparation of the country to become a member state
is therefore the object of this article. The article will also refer to proposals
being issued by the main countries involved (Bulgaria, Greece and the
Republic of Macedonia) aimed at the de-escalation of the conflict.