North Macedonia

North Macedonia (Republic of North Macedonia) is a landlocked country in central the Balkans. It shares borders with Kosovo and Serbia (north), Bulgaria (east), Greece (south), and Albania (west). Its capital is Skopje, and its official currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD). The country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 without armed conflict, unlike other Yugoslav republics.

According to the 2021 census by the State Statistical Office, the resident population was 1,836,713 people, representing a decline of 9.2% from the 2002 census. The total count, including people living abroad, was 2,097,319. The decline is attributed to lower birth rates and ongoing emigration.

The Prespa Agreement and name change

For nearly 27 years, Greece objected to the country being called "Macedonia," arguing that the name implied a claim to territory and history in Greece's Macedonian region. As a result, international bodies recognized the interim name FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). In June 2018, the two countries signed the Prespa Agreement: the country changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, and Greece withdrew its objection to NATO and European Union membership. The name change took formal effect on 12 February 2019.

NATO and the European Union

Following the signing of the accession protocol on 6 February 2019, the country completed ratification by all 29 NATO members. In 2005, it was the first country in the Western Balkans to achieve EU candidate status, but progress stalled due to external disputes and internal political instability.

Bulgaria subsequently blocked the opening of accession negotiations, raising historical and linguistic concerns. An agreement reached in 2022 allowed negotiations to begin in July 2022, but required a constitutional amendment recognizing Bulgarians as one of the country's founding peoples. This constitutional change, which needs a two-thirds parliamentary majority, remains politically contentious.

Domestic politics

In the 2024 elections, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova of the VMRO-DPMNE party won the second round of the presidential election, becoming the country's first female president. She stated that she would respect the name agreement while expressing reservations about the Bulgarian framework. The SDSM party, which led during the Prespa Agreement period, left office.

Society and economy

The country is home to multiple ethnic groups: Macedonians, who are the largest, and Albanians, who are the second largest, along with Turks, Roma, Serbs, and others. The economy relies on services, manufacturing, and foreign investment attracted to designated industrial development zones. The World Bank noted that 2024 growth stemmed largely from increased public spending, while the fiscal deficit remained around 5% of GDP since 2021.

In 2001, an armed conflict between state forces and Albanian groups was ended by the Ohrid Agreement, which expanded language rights and political participation for minority groups. The power-sharing system that resulted from this agreement continues to shape the formation of coalition governments.