IN NORMAL times, the world tends to ignore Macedonia and its 2m people, a quarter of them ethnic Albanian. But the world is not ignoring Macedonia now. Western politicians are rushing to Skopje, Russia is issuing warnings and Serbian newspapers proclaim that war is coming. “Geopolitical relevance is returning to the Balkans,” laments Veton Latifi, an analyst.
The Macedonian crisis started with a coalition dispute. To preserve ethnic peace, governments consist of the winning Macedonian party and an Albanian one. Elections last December gave the incumbent Macedonian party, the nationalist VMRO, a slight edge. But after talks with the VMRO failed, the leading Albanian party, headed by Ali Ahmeti, opted for the Social Democrats. On March 1st Macedonia’s president refused to ask the Social Democrats to form a government, saying Albanian demands would “destroy” the country. The Social Democrats called it a “coup”.
Every weekday since, thousands of Macedonians have demonstrated in support of the president. The European Union’s foreign-policy chief, Federica Mogherini, along with the head of NATO and America’s State...Continue reading
Souce: Europe http://ift.tt/2mnPC69
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