Protestantism in Macedonia Today

Protestantism arrived in Macedonia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Since then, a number of Protestant communities were established and their current membership is relatively small. The United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia is considered to be traditional and is listed as such in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The contemporary Protestant structure is composed of 12 Evangelical-Protestant churches. The subject matter of this paper is a sociological research on the Protestant communities in Macedonia and it will focus on key issues related to the structure and functioning of their communities, their mutual cooperation, and their cooperation with other religious communities

Catching up with the EU - the economic case of Macedonia

The Republic of Macedonia, the first country from the West Balkan’s region that in April 2001 signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, which entered into force on 1 April 2004. The Republic of Macedonia applied for EU membership.1 Wednesday, 9 November 2005 “ The European Commission has recommended that Macedonia become a candidate country for EU membership: EU officials say that politically, Macedonia is an incredibly positive story, but that it still has a long way to go in terms of the economy and the public administration.”

Motherless Despite Three Mothers: the Plight of the Macedonian Orthodox Church for the Recognition of Autocephaly

In the past, Greece had vigorously objected to Macedonia’s rayed solar flag choice, claiming the star was a Greek emblem. Indeed, the Macedonian flag, together with the name “Macedonia,” became the focus of a long-standing dispute between Greece and Macedonia. In July 1995, Greece went so far as to lodge a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization for exclusive trademark protection of the Star of Vergina. In 1995, due to pressure, the then Republic of Macedonia replaced its “Greek” starburst flag with the current central golden disk. Upon seeing Macedonia’s flag proudly flying atop the Macedonian Embassy near the Vatican, I could not help but wonder: will the design of the national flag of Macedonia change to match the country’s recent name change? Will the Macedonian Orthodox Church limbo be resolved? Will the Catholic Church play any role in this complicated ecclesial-political process

PROJECT FOR THE ANALYSIS OF LAND TENURE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The paper arises out of the Land Market Project and covers detailed data at the individual farm level and in-depth analyses of legal and historical processes. The agricultural sector in Macedonia is characterized by two very different farm enterprise types: small family farms operating on privately owned land, and large socially owned farms. About 30 percent of the total arable land in Macedonia belongs to socially owned farms. Most of the balance belong to the private farm sector; the cooperative sector occupies a small percentage of the arable land. The Land Markets Project addressed five tasks during the six-month term of the project: (1) assess the appropriateness of legislation, regulations, and institutions affecting land tenure and land use, (2) document and assess the land-related constraints to increased productivity and profitability of private farms, (3) document and assess the land-related constraints to increased productivity and profitability of socially owned farms, (4) propose land policy adjustments that would promote increased productivity and profitability of the agricultural sector, (5) identify financial and technical assistance to support the development of land markets that promote efficient, sustainable, and equitable increases in agricultural incomes. This paper reports the results of the first three tasks and then presents a comparative review of the land tenure and productivity results for both the private and the social sector. This comparison forms a basis for policy dialogue. The paper also includes a comprehensive discussion of the policy recommendations that stem from the Land Markets Project.Land tenure--Macedonia (Republic), Land use, Rural--Economic aspects--Macedonia (Republic), Farms, Size of--Macedonia (Republic), Agriculture--Economic aspects--Macedonia (Republic), Agricultural productivity--Macedonia (Republic), Land markets--Macedonia (Republic), Agrarian structure--Macedonia (Republic), Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis,

Migration and Remittances in Macedonia : A Review

This paper explores migration movements and remittances patterns in Macedonia since independence and studies the migration policy challenges Macedonia will be likely to face after its entry into the EU. Concerning recent migration movements, considerable outflows from Macedonia are found as well as indications for a serious brain drain. Remittances to Macedonia–which are quite big–seem to constitute a relevant support for a number of households and can be expected to diminish the incidence of poverty. In the light of the EU accession process, the Macedonian government will have to introduce policies which enhance the opportunities of migration and remittances and reduce their risks.Macedonia, migration, remittances

Macroeconomic Dynamics in Macedonia and Slovakia: Structural Estimation and Comparison

This paper estimates the structural model of Linde et al. (2008) using data for Macedonia and Slovakia. A comparison of the estimated model parameters suggest that, in Slovakia, the output gap is less sensitive to real interest rate movements and prices experience greater inertia. The estimated monetary policy reaction functions present Macedonia and Slovakia as inflation targeters, with Macedonia as the more conservative one, despite its officially applied exchange rate targeting regime. The differences in estimated parameters imply differing transmission mechanisms for Macedonia and Slovakia. Consequently, the variance of domestic variables in Slovakia is most influenced by monetary policy shocks, while there is no single dominating shock explaining the volatility of Macedonia’s macroeconomic variables. The exchange rate shock, the monetary policy shock and the demand shock are jointly important in determining the volatility of Macedonia’s variables. The model simulations indicate that Macedonia experiences lower output gap and inflation volatility than Slovakia. This comes, nevertheless, at the cost of higher interest rate and real exchange rate volatility in Macedonia, which could be an indication of more volatile financial markets.Structural Open-Economy Model, Bayesian Estimation, Eastern European Transition Economies.

Embodied learning: Why at school the mind needs the body

Despite all methodological efforts made in the last three decades, Western instruction grounds on traditional principles. Most educational programs follow theories that are mentalistic, i.e., they separate the mind from the body. At school, learners sit, watch, listen, and write. The aim of this paper is to present embodied learning as an alternative to mentalistic education. Similarly, this paper wants to describe embodied learning from a neuroscientific perspective. After a brief historical overview, I will review studies highlighting the behavioral effectiveness of embodied instruction in second language learning, mathematics and spatial thinking. On this base, I will discuss some of the brain mechanisms driving embodied learning and describe its advantages, clearly pleading in favor of instructional practice that reunites body and mind

AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA – CURRENT SITUATION AND DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES

Macedonia needs a balance between the goals of economic progress, social development and environmental protection. The basic reasons for this lies in the decrease of the exporting competitiveness of the Macedonian agricultural sector. This negative tendency results in losing the export markets, and also in a strong pressure put by the foreign producers. What is known is that Macedonia has strong comparative advantages when it comes to food producing. Those comparative advantages have to be supported by enhancing the competitive advantages the main purpose of which would be enabling more dynamic export of high-quality agricultural products from Macedonia.agriculture, development, Macedonia

Country Snapshot North Macedonia

A brief summary of the history and current status of religion in North Macedonia