| dc.description.abstract | The current thesis analyses the interstate relations of North Macedonia with Greece and Bulgaria in the context of the former’s EU integration process in the period 2004-2024. The EU membership has been for long time the main goal of North Macedonia. In the early 2000s the country was considered the Western Balkan leader in the EU integration process. However, the identity disputes with Greece and Bulgaria, which emerged along with North Macedonia’s statehood in 1991, largely obstructed the Skopje’s integration advance. In addition, the 10-year governance of the nationalistic VMRO-DPMNE and its identity politics, further constrained Skopje’s relations with Athens and Sofia. For most of the analyzed period, the relations with Greece seemed to be the main external obstacle for the EU integration of North Macedonia. The Macedonian-Greek dispute centered on the name of the Macedonian state, which Greece strongly contested, considering it an integral part of its own national identity. Further, Athens raised objections towards North Macedonia’s claims over the history of the ancient Macedonian Kingdom. Regarding the Macedonian-Bulgarian issues, they have been mostly latent in the past two decades. However, they became more acute in the recent years, especially when Greece solved its bilateral issues with North Macedonia in 2018. Sofia disputes part of North Macedonia’s history and the distinctiveness of its national language, arguing that both were based on Bulgarian roots.
The literature on the matter is characterized by a lack of general consensus regarding the main reason for North Macedonia’s struggles on its path towards EU membership. Furthermore, the quantity of constructivist analyses on North Macedonia’s disputes with Greece and Bulgaria remains highly limited. Therefore, by employing the constructivist theory, the current thesis aims to examine the sensitive identity issues, which disturb North Macedonia’s interstate relations with Greece and Bulgaria. Based on literature sources such as other analyses, political positions, governmental statements, surveys, reports, treaties and other type of documents, the research argues that the identity lies at the core of all major bilateral issues of North Macedonia with Greece and Bulgaria, which in turn affect Skopje’s progress towards EU integration.
Key words: identity, contestation, history, language, state name, EU integration | |
