Last week’s parliamentary elections in Macedonia saw the incumbent EU-sceptic government securing four more years of power. While this will certainly not be treated as a big surprise by the Balkan watchers in Brussels, the re-election of this government and its political platform might soon pose a number of challenging choices for EU policy makers. They have the luxury of avoiding the entire set now but such a choice would turn extremely costly for both geo-strategic matters and the EU integration process in the Western Balkans later.

In a conclusion of our trilogy of pre and post election texts on Macedonia Neda Korunovska from Reactor and I wrote a short commentary for E!Sharp. Read it here.

Some of my international friends asked me about the Macedonian elections and their outcomes. Certainly not a blockbuster news in the international media(some coverage in the Economist) , this deserved little attention ( luckily no one get killed and the election day went smoothly – kudos to the State Election Commission and the Government for that day). With help of Neda ( with whom we wrote the pre-election text on the European Voice) here is summary of results and some random thoughts on the past elections:

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Together with Neda Korunovska Avramovska from Reactor – Research in Action, a think tank from Skopje, I penned a short commentary aimed for EU audience published by European Voice, Brussels media outlet of  the Economist Group.

Macedonia is bracing itself for elections tomorrow (5 June) - the third parliamentary elections in the past five years and the second extraordinary elections in the space of three years.

The contest falls between the great news of the Ratko Mladic arrest and the parliamentary election in Turkey on 12 June, so Balkan-watchers in Brussels have plenty to digest. Although the incumbent government in Skopje is making a habit of heading to the polls every time its ratings are down, this is not a routine election. Macedonia’s problems today run much deeper than the integration of the Albanian minority and the name dispute with Greece – the two issues that up to now have aroused the greatest interest from the international community. If the European Union wants to finish its business in the Balkans, it should take a note of Macedonia’s difficulties.

Read the full text

When I started this blog earlier this summer, I decided to use it only as a space for sharing my professional reflections on policy-making processes and the role of think tanks within. This day, December 19, 2009 poses a serious challenge to this decision of mine. I will try to balance my personal and professional reflections on the great decision to put Macedonian, Serbian and Montenegrin citizens on the White List of Schengen countries (All EU except the UK and Ireland).

While for many December 19 is just an ordinary day, if not tiring, in the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy, for me – a Macedonian living in the European Union- it is a day for second coming out of age. Second, since at age of 36, I feel like being given a second suffrage. This time, it is not the right to vote, it is the right to move freely, to travel to ‘Europe’. Gone are the long lines in front of the EU embassies, suffering all sorts of humiliations. After 18 years, 10 passports (including my old Yugoslav passport), some 120 visas and countless amount spent*, I can travel to almost the entire EU without a visa. It feels almost like a first vote, even better since the choice is greater (sic! to local Macedonian politicians). I vividly remember my first international travel in 1991, exactly 18 years ago. Then, at the down of the Yugoslavia’s demise, I visited London, proud of my Yugoslav passport, then the entry ticket to both the West and the East.

This is a great achievement which I hope will not end up here. I look forward to Albanians and Bosnians being able to share the same excitement that has now overwhelmed me (already in 2010). This is also a time to thank to all civil servants and some politicians, but also extend the gratitude to many think tanks and NGOs that have pushed this agenda. I want to personally thank to think tanks such as European Movement Albania, PoPuLaRi in Bosnia, Group 484 in Serbia, Center for Research and Policy Making in Macedonia, European Stability Initiative and Policy Association for Open Society (PASOS) and European Institute in Bulgaria – for their efforts. Knowing that the list is much longer, please excuse me for not mentioning many more NGOs and think tanks that have contributed to this effort. And not to forget Kosovo (read the last report of FORUM 2015)!

At the end of this note I would to ask for volunteers to explain to my 87-year grandma what kind of Wall fell earlier today. She asked my mum after watching all the news coverage and celebrations and was somewhat disappointed that they did not show a wall on the news . Obviously, the old women likened this event with the coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Warning to the volunteers: it should be easy and understandable, almost as a short comment in a popular daily newspaper .

*Only the last UK visa amounted to 267 Euros. Unfortunately UK visas will stay around for a while.

I have written this text in November 2008. The summary is presented below, you can download the full version in pdf atthe bottom of this page.

SUMMARY: Coordination among the world’s democracies-between the US and Europe as well as between other developed and developing democratic countries-needs immediate attention. With US hegemonic power in decline and democracy losing appeal globally, democracy as an ideology necessitates a serious rethink. It now exists in a sort of global market where it competes against other effective ideologies such as authoritarian capitalism. The recent rejection of the League of Democracies is a sign that creation of new international institutions is not necessarily the way to get things done. Instead, existing institutions are going to have to work as they were intended to. While cooperation between democracies alone will not solve our most pressing issues such as global warming, security, nuclear proliferation, terrorism and global health, there are a number of areas where the world’s democracies can make a difference. With US-led alliances no longer adequate for addressing different worldviews, European countries are in a position to act as global leaders. GB Cooperation of democracies Continue reading →

СРЕЌЕН РОДЕНДЕН!!!

Горан (брат) прими го овој роденденски подарок со насмевка на лицето, искрена желба во срцето и длабока мисла во умот. Искористи го паметно за да постигнеш уште повеќе на сите полиња.

ДАРКО и МАРИЈА

Дарко: при чиста свест се нафаќам
да ти дадам комплетна поддршка