History of The Republic of Macedonia - Road To Republic

Road To Republic

In 1990, the form of government peacefully changed from socialist state to parliamentary democracy. The first multi-party elections were held on 11 and 25 November and 9 December 1990. After the collective presidency led by Vladimir Mitkov was dissolved, Kiro Gligorov became the first democratically elected president of the Republic of Macedonia on 31 January 1991. On April 16, 1991, the parliament adopted a constitutional amendment removing "Socialist" from the official name of the country, and on June 7 of the same year, the new name, Republic of Macedonia, was officially established.

On 8 September 1991, the Republic of Macedonia held a referendum where 95.26% voted for independence from Yugoslavia, under the name of the Republic of Macedonia. The question of the referendum was formulated as "Would you support independent Macedonia with the right to enter future union of sovereign states of Yugoslavia?" (In Macedonian: Дали сте за самостојна Македонија со право да стапи во иден сојуз на суверени држави на Југославија). On 25 September 1991 the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by the Macedonian Parliament making the Republic of Macedonia an independent country - although in Macedonia independence day is still celebrated as the day of the referendum 8 September. A new Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia was adopted on 17 November 1991.

Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the new state under its constitutional name. However, international recognition of the new country was delayed by Greece's objection to the use of what it considered a Hellenic name and national symbols, as well as controversial clauses in the Republic's constitution. To compromise, the United Nations recognised the state under the name of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" in 1993

Greece was still dissatisfied and it imposed a trade blockade in February 1994. The sanctions were lifted in September 1995 after Macedonia changed its flag and aspects of its constitution that were perceived as granting it the right to intervene in the affairs of other countries. The two neighbours immediately went ahead with normalizing their relations, but the state's name remains a source of local and international controversy. The usage of each name remains controversial to supporters of the other.

After the state was admitted to the United Nations under the temporary reference "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", other international organisations adopted the same convention. More than half of the UN's member states have recognised the country as the Republic of Macedonia, including the United States of America while the rest use the temporary reference "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" or have not established any diplomatic relations with Macedonia.

In 1999, the Kosovo War led to 340,000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo fleeing into Macedonia, greatly disrupting normal life in the region and threatening to upset the balance between Macedonians and Albanians. Refugee camps were set up in Macedonia. Meanwhile, Athens rallied behind Skopje and allowed Greek Macedonia to be used as a transit corridor for NATO forces moving to the region ahead of a possible invasion of Serbia. Thessaloniki became the main depot for humanitarian aid to the region. The Republic itself did not become involved in the conflict.

In the event, the Serbian government under president Slobodan Milošević capitulated and the refugees were allowed home under UN protection. However, the war increased tensions and relations between ethnic Macedonians and Albanian Macedonians became strained. On the positive side, Athens and Ankara presented a united front of 'non-involvement'. In Greece, there was a strong reaction against NATO and the United States but the small anti-war political parties lost, rather than gained, support.