Kosovo: Macedonia’s Perspectives

Abstract

The Republic of Macedonia has maintained a policy with regard to the new Kosovar state that is heavily influenced by the actors on the international scene, and first of all the United States. Macedonia has moved from a de facto recognition via the establishment of a state border to formal recognition, which coincided with its rejection of the Serbian bid at the UN Security Council to support its appeal of the International Court of Justice. The author sees Macedonia’s situation severely weakened, as it risks positioning itself between two adversaries, Serbia and Greece, with possible negative consequences regarding the name issue and its economic and infrastructural ties. Beyond this, the author points to the potentiality that Kosovo’s independence might trigger a destabilizing domino effect within other multiethnic settings in the region. The conflict in the Caucasus, the EU’s internal crisis, and the financial crisis add further momentum to these destabilizing potentialities.