North Macedonia takes a small step forward and one backwards this week

Caretaker Government Minister in Skopje provokes Athens’ ire

- Advertisement -

Since being installed in early January in preparation for the country’s April 6 elections, Caretaker Government Labour Minister Rashela Mizrahi, from the ultranationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, has repeatedly appeared in front of an old backdrop that hasn’t been updated to include “North” in the country’s name.
The Prespes Agreement that resolved the decades-old Name Dispute between Athens and Skopje includes prescribed transition periods for updating government buildings and signposts.
Permanent backdrops reading “North Macedonia” are said to be installed at government headquarters in Skopje but not yet at all ministries. The previous labour minister, Mila Casovska, had patched banners over the old backdrops that used the full name “Republic of North Macedonia” in multiple languages.
The images of Mizrahi at repeated media appearances in front of signs that said “Republic of Macedonia” were prominently shown across most all Greek media over the past weekend, and using the tried and true formula of TV imagery, those images were retransmitted to annoy Greece sufficiently to prompt diplomatic protests from Athens that have rightfully embarrassed Skopje.
On February 9, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, called for Mizrahi to stop appearing in front of the old name or risk acting Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski removing her from her position.
“The state will not allow such infantilism. The Labour and Social Policy Ministry is not her private apartment, just as the constitution is not merely a piece of paper,” Dimitrov said. “The minister may not like the constitution or the Prespes treaty, but that does not entitle her to not apply it. Without the principle of constitutionality and legality, nothing will be left of the state.”
Spasovski, on February 12, asked Parliament to dismiss Mizrahi. This kicked-off the countdown to the April 12 elections and North Macedonia’s Parliament is also expected to take steps to end its current term and dissolve itself within a week.
Parliament voted 62-26 on February 14 to dismiss Mizrahi, after six hours of debate. Mizrahi claimed after her dismissal that she had been targeted for punishment specifically because she was the first person of Jewish origin to have held a senior government ministerial position, a charge that was quickly denied by FM Dimitrov, who alleged that expressions of anti-semitism were extremely uncommon in North Macedonia.
NATO accession protocol ratified
NATO’s long drive to bring North Macedonia into the alliance as its 30th member is now approaching the final stage. One of the last steps required in the long process is for the new member country to approve its own NATO accession protocol which North Macedonia did via a parliamentary vote on February 11 (all 114 deputies present voted in favour). Greece was the first country to approve Skopje’s NATO accession last year.
Spain becomes the final country that has not completed ratification procedures (all NATO allies need to approve the new member) but is expected to do this in March, which would be 14 months after ratification work formally started, considered within the expected time frame.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

CEO/Editor-in-Chief.  Former US diplomat with previous assignments in Eastern Europe, the UN, SE Asia, Greece, across the Balkans, as well as Washington DC.

Latest

Georgia’s political confrontation continues at low boil

It is difficult to find anyone other than current...

Facing mounting challenges, new EU Commission takes office

Amidst global geopolitical turmoil, the European Commission of Ursula...

Starvation in Sudan

Aid workers have warned that one of the worst...

Don't miss

Georgia’s political confrontation continues at low boil

It is difficult to find anyone other than current...

Facing mounting challenges, new EU Commission takes office

Amidst global geopolitical turmoil, the European Commission of Ursula...

Starvation in Sudan

Aid workers have warned that one of the worst...

COP29: Multilateral diplomatic stalemate circumvented

COP29 in Baku ended in the early hours of...

Facing mounting challenges, new EU Commission takes office

Amidst global geopolitical turmoil, the European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen officially took office on December 1 with the President pledging that over...

Starvation in Sudan

Aid workers have warned that one of the worst famines in decades could be under way in Sudan, a country in the middle of...

COP29: Multilateral diplomatic stalemate circumvented

COP29 in Baku ended in the early hours of November 24, reaching a compromise deal on finance that will advance the global climate agenda...

Lula’s G20 Rio Summit: Forgettable but not inconsequential

Seen from the perspective of a week after the November 19-20 Rio de Janeiro Summit, but before the event has completely receded into the...

U.S. sanctions Russian banks, finance officials and securities registrars

The U.S. announced on November 21 new sanctions targeting Russia’s largest remaining non-designated bank (Gazprombank), as well as dozens of other financial institutions and...

Azerbaijan’s space shot: Satellites tracking climate change clues

The Space Agency of Azerbaijan sees the UN’s annual climate conference (COP29) currently taking place in Baku as an opportunity to extend global collaboration...

The Key Issue for a new Government

After 14 years in the political wilderness, the new UK Labour government could be excused for being somewhat rusty when it comes to running...

Dear Democrats, about that Harris coronation last summer….

Back in July, we took exception to the decisions by the leadership of the Democratic Party to anoint Kamala Harris to take over President...