Insurgency in The Republic of Macedonia - Background

Background

When it declared its independence on 8 September 1991, Macedonia was the only ex-Yugoslav republic that managed to secede non-violently from the federation. Because of this, Macedonia was considered one of the bright spots in the former-Yugoslavia.

Although Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia as one of the poorest republics, socio-economic interventions done by the consecutive democratically elected governments managed to improve the economic picture in the country. According to the International Crisis Group, there was nearly 3% growth in 1999, and the second half of 2000 also saw steady growth, leading to a 5% GDP increase for the year. In January 2001, the government projected a budget surplus for the second year in a row. In 2000 the country’s emerging middle class began buying new cars, adding extensions to apartments and planning summer vacations abroad.

Although the ethnic Macedonian majority and the largest minority, the ethnic Albanians, have co-existed uneasily both before and after the country declared independence in 1991, their relations have generally been peaceful. All of the successive Macedonian governments have included Albanian parties as coalition partners, and all problems were resolved through political dialogue. The mood was more or less optimistic until the beginning of 2001. The main cause for incidents though, was the repression from the Macedonian governments on the use of Albanian language in Macedonia and the ban of the use of the Albanian flag, as in 1997 the Constitutional court forbids use of Albanian flag, sparking protests.