Election Deal Calms but Doesn’t Solve Macedonia Crisis

Election Deal Calms but Doesn’t Solve Macedonia Crisis
Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian prime minister and leader of the ruling conservative VMRO party, at a rally in front of Parliament, Skopje, Macedonia, May 18, 2015 (AP photo by Boris Grdanoski).

A popular revolution against a corrupt, authoritarian government; a new battleground between Russia and the West; an attempted coup by barely-reconstructed communists against a democratically elected government; the latest failure by a flailing, out-of-touch European Union.

These are just some of the narratives swirling around Macedonia, where an apparent government wire-tapping scandal has set off a months-long political crisis. In recent weeks, the situation has even acquired an ethnic tinge, deeply unwelcome in a country that fought a brief war against ethnic Albanian insurgents in 2001.

This week brought some respite, with an EU-brokered deal to hold early elections by April 2016 at the latest. The details still have to be worked out, leaving the future of conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski unknown. He may cling on, claiming a democratic mandate, but popular pressure for him to go has been mounting.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review