FYR Macedonia rights concerns spike over bloodshed
- 9 years ago
This is the worst crisis in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia since 2001.
Fourteen years ago, the country (FYROM for short) stood on the brink of civil war. Insurgents were demanding greater rights for the ethnic Albanian minority, some one quarter of the small country’s population of 2.1 million.
Western governments hoped they could ease FYROM’s ethnic tensions and encourage liberal democracy by holding out the prospect of membership in the EU and NATO, and by patching up the country’s long-running dispute with Greece over the name ‘Macedonia’.
Instead, European officials today admit they are seriously concerned over a deterioration in the rule of law, fundamental rights and media freedom.
On a scale of one to seven for democratic progress, advocacy group Freedom House rates Macedonia at the lower end: Four.
The government in Skopje is coming under international pressure to address accusations that it rigged parliamentary elections in April 2014, to win. The accu
Fourteen years ago, the country (FYROM for short) stood on the brink of civil war. Insurgents were demanding greater rights for the ethnic Albanian minority, some one quarter of the small country’s population of 2.1 million.
Western governments hoped they could ease FYROM’s ethnic tensions and encourage liberal democracy by holding out the prospect of membership in the EU and NATO, and by patching up the country’s long-running dispute with Greece over the name ‘Macedonia’.
Instead, European officials today admit they are seriously concerned over a deterioration in the rule of law, fundamental rights and media freedom.
On a scale of one to seven for democratic progress, advocacy group Freedom House rates Macedonia at the lower end: Four.
The government in Skopje is coming under international pressure to address accusations that it rigged parliamentary elections in April 2014, to win. The accu