The Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Multiethnic Future of the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Being one of the youngest countries in Europe, the Republic of Macedonia has undergone a specific and quite complicated path since the declaration of its independence in 1991. Once a self named “oasis of peace” it was faced with an internal interethnic armed conflict in 2011 which ended with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. This agreement has on the other hand become of the main symbols of the internal development of the country during the last decade. Although the OFA has not been treated equally by all interested sides, the fact remains that it is most definitively one of the main documents in the development of the country. Although one might argue that the ethnic Macedonians try to build Macedonia as a country of the Macedonians and the others while the ethnic Albanians treat Macedonia as country of the Macedonians, the Albanians and the others, one truth remains. And that undisputable truth is that Macedonia is a multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural country and its future can be build only on mutual respect. This paper strives to provide a short description of the main reasons behind the OFA and its consequences for the Republic of Macedonia and its multiethnic future.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p472