Dialogue of Scopje and Tirana and the “Albanian Question”: Resolution of Contradictions on the Way to Euro Integration

Abstract

After the declaration of independence, the Republic of North Macedonia began to build an independent foreign policy, in which relations with Albania occupied an important place. The Albanian government, like the Macedonian government, carried out a democratic transition, which was complicated for Tirana by the way out of the isolation of the socialist period. Therefore, building a mutually beneficial dialogue was necessary for both republics. The relations between Tirana and Skopje reflect the general regional processes in the Balkans after the collapse of the SFRY, the main of which was the process of political fragmentation.For a long time, the Macedonian policy towards Albania depended on the impossibility of resolving the name dispute with Greece and on the absence of a democratic transition in the FRY. The existence of a threat to national security brought the two states closer together. In the future, the interests of the two republics often coincided, which was reflected in joint participation in regional organizations aimed at accelerating the European integration of the Western Balkan region.Difficulties in relations between the two states were associated with the activities of the Albanian minority in the Macedonian republic and with the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians. The "Albanian question" became especially important in 2001, during the conflict between the Macedonian army and the extremist pro-Albanian organization. Taking a loyal point towards both the Macedonian Albanian minority and the Kosovar Albanians who suffered from the 1998 crisis, the Macedonian government was forced to respond to separatist demonstrations, which complicated the dialogue with Tirana. But soon the expansion of the rights of the Albanian minority in the Republic of North Macedonia and giving the Albanian language the status of the second official language smoothed the acuteness in Albanian-Macedonian relations. This was also facilitated by the recognition by the Macedonian government of Kosovo sovereignty in 2008.Thus, relations with Albania continue to occupy a key position in the foreign policy of North Macedonia in the context of the larger processes taking place in the Balkan region.