IDMonSite – Petar Arsovski
Date/Time
May 25, 2020
15:00 - 16:00 CEST/CET
In our next #IDMonSite, we will take a closer look to the current situation in North Macedonia that undoubtedly has belonged to the most hopeful countries of the Western Balkan region regarding European integration before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-term Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski agreed in 2016 to resign after being accused of corruption. The following parliamentary elections made the formation of a new government and more consensual neighborhood relations with Bulgaria and Greece possible. The conclusion of the Prespa Agreement with Greece in 2018 brought an end to the dispute on the country’s name and also enabled the agreement on North Macedonia’s NATO accession in 2019.
In the same year however, the European Council could not agree on starting the EU-accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania that led to deep disappointment. Early parliamentary elections were proclaimed that finally did not take place due to the necessary COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile neither a concrete timeline for starting the EU-accession talks, after the green light given by the member states this March, nor a next date for the parliamentary elections is fixed. The political polarization has been additionally heated up by challenges in the health care and economic situation, while Gruevski – instead of being legally sentenced – enjoys political asylum in Hungary.
Can we expect that the parliamentary elections will be held in July or September this year? Which narratives might then be the most dominant? Will the Social Democrats under Zoran Zaev hold their governmental position? Which role is Gruevski going to play in these elections? To what extent have North Macedonia’s neighborhood relations to Greece, Bulgaria and Albania changed, especially after its NATO accession? What are the effects of inter-ethnic relations to daily life? Which further steps are to expect regarding North Macedonia’s EU accession process?
All that questions and the seemingly upside-down situation we appreciate to discuss with the well-known political analyst Petar Arsovski.
Join the discussion moderated by Silvia Nadjivan (IDM) via our YouTube channel IDMVienna May, 27th, at 15:00 CEST on our YouTube channel, where the video will also be available afterwards:
- Beginn: Montag, 27. Mai 2020, 15:00 Uhr
- Ende: Montag, 27. Mai 2020, 16:00 Uhr
- Ort: IDM YouTube Kanal
- Auskunft: Silvia Nadjivan
- Auskunft E-Mail: s.nadjivan@idm.at
- Anmeldung: nein
Categories