The EU must take its share of the blame for the political crisis in Macedonia

Macedonia is currently experiencing a political crisis, with a wire-tapping scandal prompting large demonstrations from both opponents and supporters of the country’s government. Against the backdrop of the crisis, the northern city of Kumanovo has also experienced deadly clashes that claimed the lives of eight police officers. Dejan Marolov writes that while the nature of the crisis is complex, the EU must take its share of the blame. He argues that with the ongoing naming dispute between Macedonia and Greece effectively closing off the country’s path to European integration, the foundations have been laid for instability which may yet spillover into other parts of the region

The relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria

Abstract: The Macedonian-Bulgarian relations are very interesting and in the same time very complicate from both historical point of view and present point of view. This paper treats this relations and the joint declaration from 1999 as key document for this relations. Having in mind that (1) Bulgaria is member of EU and NATO and (2) Macedonia has aspiration for joining them, this bilateral relations have the full capacity to become international issue. This paper is trying to present its humble contribution for the future improvement of this relations

MACEDONIAN ACCESSION IN THE UN

The process of the Macedonian accession in the United Nations is quite controversial. Namely, this accession was a unique example in the UN history. Macedonia has become a UN member under special and additional preconditions. This had and still has big implications on the Macedonian state. This paper is treating this issue by analyzing legal-political texts and another appropriate literature. The paper suggests that the UN accession was more than necessary for Republic of Macedonia but in the same time it was very controversial for both, Republic of Macedonia and the UN

A perfect storm: Macedonia’s political chaos and the refugee crisis

Macedonia has been experiencing a prolonged political crisis, with the country’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, resigning in January this year ahead of new elections intended to be held in April. Dejan Marolov writes on the roots of the crisis and how the present standoff between the ruling party and the opposition has developed. He argues that resolving the political stalemate will be vital if Macedonia is to meet a number of key challenges it faces, such as the country’s location on one of the main routes for asylum seekers and migrants to travel into northern Europe

EU POLICY TOWARDS MACEDONIA DURING THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS

The EU19 policy and its relation to the process of disintegration of the Yugoslav federation has been featured quite a lot. However, within these general EU policy toward the Yugoslavian problem there was an, more or less, individual policy toward each constitutive republics of Yugoslavia. That is exactly the matter that will be dealt in this paper. In this way we will try to present the specific EU policy towards Macedonia as one of the six constitutive republics of the former Yugoslav federation for the period of the duration of the Yugoslav crisis. The logical question here is what exactly we mean by the term "Yugoslav crisis" and precisely what time framework we are talking about. At this point we are not going to specify the exact dates but we are going simply to suggest that "Yugoslav crisis" is a few months period before the declaration of independence by Slovenia and Croatia, including the military actions in these two republics, until the Dayton Peace Agreement for B&H. After this there was a period of stagnation and relatively peaceful conditions in the territory of former Yugoslavia, but only until 1999, when a military conflict broke out in the so-called "southern front” in Kosovo and later in 2001 in Macedonia. However, the conflicts in Kosovo and Macedonia can not be included in the term ,,Yugoslav crisis”, because of the fact that at that time Yugoslavia did not exist anymore and that these military conflicts occurred in two different sovereign and mutually recognized states20. So, in this paper we will try to highlight the most important elements of EU policy towards Macedonia during the Yugoslav crisis and the question which influences this policy had on the newly independent Republic

THE STANDARDS OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROHIBITION OF TORUTURE, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT

The European Convention on Human Rights, with its Protocols, is one of the most important legal instruments adopted by the Council of Europe, which provides the protection of fundamental freedoms and human rights, at a time which testifies to their daily flagrant violation. Based on the rights that are guaranteed by the Convention, the European Court of Human Rights deals with individual complaints, complaints from non-governmental organizations or a group of individuals and brings judgments that are binding for the concerned states. In Article 3, the Convention guarantees the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The right, which is absolutely, does not contain restrictive clauses in the article itself and is not subject to any restrictions by a state or third parties. The unconditionality of Article 3 does not indicate that, in the light of international law and the Convention, there can ever be justification for acts that would violate the foreseen in this article, nor that there is room for restrictions that would be determined by law. However, in spite of the clarity of the article, which, unequivocally is very powerful, short and precise, it is essential that we truly understand its meaning, so we could properly bring into live the guarantees that arise from the word of Article 3. In the text bellow, we will try to explain the standards and criteria set by the Convention itself and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to this elementary human right and its proper application

The Euro-Atlanticaspirations of the Republic of Macedonia

The Euro-Atlantic integration is Macedonia's aspiration and top priority of the Macedonian foreign policy. It is interesting that this integration is desired by the most Macedonian citizens and is one of the rare issues on which there is consensus among political parties and citizens of different religious and ethnic backgrounds. By achieving this goal i.e. Euro-Atlantic integration of the Republic of Macedonia, the county will become a factor of stability on the unstable Balkan. Still not all of the Macedonian neighbors agree with this and some specific obstacles appeared

AFTER ELECTIONS CONSTITUTIONAL DILLEMAS AND THE CREATION OF THE GOVERNMENT IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The last parliamentary elections in the Republic of Macedonia resulted in almost equal number of members in the parliament between the coalitions led by the biggest op-position and position party.This close result was an initiative for different interpretations of the constitutional regulations regarding the mandate to form a new government and in case if the mandator does not succeed in forming a government in the constitutionally provided period. Especially the second part of the previous question attracts an interest why hasn`t the Macedonian constitution have foreseen that situation. This article will make a summary of the opinions of adequate experts; it will analyze the established practice; it will analyze in detail the highest Macedonian legal act and it will compare it to the constitutions of Serbia and Croatia (in the part of government election). On the basis of the previously said we will try to give concrete recommendations for what should the reaction be in the concrete situation, something that can influence the creation of the new and of any other future government in the Republic of Macedonia

Small power in conflict with great power: a case study of Czechoslovakia and Germany conflicts

This paper focuses on analyzing the conflict between Czechoslovakia and Nazi-Germany that had the full capacity to lead to the Second World War. It presents all the relevant circumstances and actors of international relations from the respective historical epoch. In these regards the international system and international law in the interwar period is taken into consideration. The focus will be on Czechoslovakia and Germany. The study also presents the options that were opened to Czechoslovakia, the choices it made, and the reason the choices was decided that way. In all this, it is important to determine a certain paradigm of behavior of a small state in conflict with great power as well as the possible influence of third forces as allies. This paper will be analyzed by using some aspect of structural realism. The conclusion is that Czechoslovakia leadership did not believe that can act independently for its ally - France

БОРБА ЗА ОПСТАНОК ИЛИ ЕКСПАНЗИЈА? Студија на случај на конфликт помеѓу голема сила и мала држава

Главната цел на оваа книга е да извлечеме определени заклучоци во однос на однесувањето и изборите кои ги прави една мала сила соочена во директна конфронтација со голема сила. Оваа книга ќе ја започнеме со делот кој се обидува да направи разлика помеѓу поимите на мала и голема држава, како и мала и голема сила. Откако начелно ги поставивме овие контури ќе направиме студии на случај на директен судир помеѓу мала и голема сила и ќе се обидеме да извлечеме соодветни заклучоци. Претходново особено ќе биде прикажано во светлото на теоретската рамка на структурниот реализам и неговата примена во пракса. Ќе се обрне внимание и на постоечката дебата помеѓу дефанзивните и офанзивните реалисти, балансот на силите и функционирањето и карактеристиките на асиметричните сојузи составени од мала и голема сила. Ќе се обидеме и да извлечеме соодветни заклучоци за изборите и можностите на малите сили преку употреба и на теoретската рамка на затвореничката дилема и секако безбедносната дилема. Сето ова ќе биде направено преку анализа на текстот насловен како Мелијанскиот дијалог и обработка на две конкретни студии на случај. Конкретните студии на случај го опфаќаат судирот помеѓу (1) Србија и Австро-Унгарија пред Првата светска војна и (2) Чехословачка и Германија пред Втората светска војна. На ваков начин ќе можеме да го анализираме справувањето на малата сила во конфликт со голема сила во соодветната историска констелација на меѓународните односи сочинети од повеќе големи сили и непостоење на некој вид на светска универзална меѓународна организација (светот пред Првата светска војна) и постоење на повеќе големи сили и постоење на светска универзална меѓународна организација (светот по Првата светска војна). На овој начин се надеваме дека ќе одговориме соодветно на сет прашања, како што се: Што влијаеше повеќе, а што помалку во изборите на раководствата на државите? До кој степен имаат улога внатрешните капацитети на малите сили, а до кој степен надворешните сојузништва во обезбедувањето на безбедноста на истите? Кој е во право во пошироката дебата помеѓу дефанзивните и офанзивните реалисти? и др. Книгата е пишувана на таков начин што ќе има можност да биде користена како практикум за секој студент по меѓународни односи, но и да биде четиво за уживање за секој читател кој нема допирни точки со оваа наука но едноставно ужива во историските случувања. Деталната теоретската рамка следи во наредниот дел. Нашите заклучоци покажуваат дека дефинирањето и разграничувањето на поимите како: мала држава, мала сила, голема држава и голема сила е можно и е потребно. Понатаму, пропагандата во ситуациите кои ги обработуваме секогаш е од големо значење и постои во сите историски епохи (нормално на различни начини). Огромно (ако не и пресудно) влијание за крајниот исход ќе игра некоја трета држава-сојузник на малата сила со одлуката за нејзино вмешување или невмешување во конфликтот (многу повеќе согласно со нејзините проценки наспроти некакви дадени претходни ветувања). Голема улога во одлуката на агресорот за започнување на агресијата имаат внатрешните проблеми и политики, при што многу често на интервенција надвор се гледа како инструмент за решавање на проблеми внатре. Исто така, се покажа дека државите се однесуваат согласно со контурите на дефанзивен реализам во моментите кога практично на тоа се принудени за повторно да се однесуваат согласно со контурите на офанзивниот реализам кога за тоа ќе имаат можност. Конечно, кога е на повидок нарушување на балансот на силите на сметка на една конкретна држава тоа е еден вид аларм за другите држави (особено соседните) да се вклучат во таа идна прераспределба, зашто во спротивно истата ќе биде направена и без нив (и индиректно и на нивна штета во крајна мера)