ESTIEM EUROPE3D MAC3DONIA
Macedonian Protests 2015
Name dispute with Greece
Boris Trajkovski Death
Insurgency 2001
Political controversies
The breakup of Yugoslavia reignited a multifaceted dispute centered over the use of the name Macedonia, this time between Greece and the newly independent Republic of Macedonia, formerly a federal unit of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since 1991, it has been an ongoing issue in bilateral and international relations. Citing historical and territorial concerns resulting from the ambiguity between the Republic of Macedonia, the adjacent Greek region of Macedonia and the ancient kingdom of Macedon which falls within the territories of both countries today, Greece opposes the use of the name "Macedonia" by the Republic of Macedonia without a geographical qualifier, supporting a compound name such as "Northern Macedonia" for use by all and for all purposes.
In May 2015, protests occurred in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, against the incumbent Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his government. Protests began following charges being brought up against Zoran Zaev, the opposition leader, who responded by alleging that Gruevski had 20,000 Macedonian officials and other figures wiretapped, and covered up the murder of a young man by a police officer in 2011.A major protest occurred on May 5, seeing violent clashes between activists and police, with injuries on both sides. In the days afterward, the opposition claimed that more anti-government actions will occur, which they did later that month. Several min isters, including the interior minister, resigned during the protests. Gruevski himself refused to step down, saying on May 16 that "if I back down it would be a cowardly move. I’ll face down the attacks.”
Protests continued through the month, and a large gathering of anti-government protestors was held in Skopje on May 17. The number of protestors that turned up on Sunday, May 17 is estimated in the tens of thousands (40,000+). Zaev claimed that the number of attendees at the rally on Sunday was more than 100,000 (between 100,000 and 120,000). On May 18, a large pro-government rally occurred of Gruevski's supporters, said to be in the tens of thousands. Estimates put pro-government supporters at around 30,000. On May 19, Gruevski and Zaev met for talks, with several members of theEuropean Parliament also present, in Strasbourg. The negotiations lasted for twelve hours but resulted in no agreements. On his return flight to Macedonia, Gruevski's plane made an emergency landing in Zurich after decompression in the air occurred.
The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia (January - November 2001, with some preceding and following incidents) was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) militant group began attacking the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia at the beginning of February 2001, and ended with the Ohrid Agreement.
The goal of the NLA was to give greater rights and autonomy to the country's Albanian minority, who make up 25.2% of the population. There were also claims that the group, ultimately, wished to see Albanian-majority areas secede from the country, though high-ranking NLA members have denied this. The conflict lasted throughout most of the year, although overall casualties remained limited to several dozen for either side, according to the sources from both of the sides in the conflict.
The Arachinovo crisis
The Arachinovo crisis is considered as the most controversial event in the Conflict, because of the direct involvement of highest NATO officials, such as Javier Solana, George Robertsonand Peter Feith, in the halting of the Macedonian security offensive and the evacuation of the NLA insurgents that were encircled in the village. The NATO intervention was the key turning point in the military crisis in Macedonia.
Monument of the Defenders of Macedonia
Trajkovski died on 26 February 2004 in a plane crash en route to an economic conference in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aircraft crashed in thick fog and heavy rain on a mountainside in southeastern Herzegovina, near the villages of Huskovici and Rotimlja some eight miles (15 km) south-south-east of Mostar. Eight other people were also aboard but none survived the impact, which broke the aircraft into three pieces. It came down in an area that had been heavily mined during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, which significantly hampered the rescue and recovery efforts.
Although the cause of the crash is not known, it seems likely that it was the result of a controlled flight into terrain, possibly exacerbated by alleged mistakes made by the SFOR air traffic controllers at Mostar Ortiješ International Airport. The approach to the airport's Runway 34 has been criticized by pilots for being difficult to handle, and as the runway is not equipped with precision landing systems, it is especially challenging in bad weather. The crash is not the first major air accident to kill a politician in southern Herzegovina: on April 3, 1996, the United States Secretary of CommerceRonald Brown was killed while en route from Bosnia to Croatia.
After his death there was a State Funeral in his honour and on his gravestone is the verse from the Bible "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God."
Boris Trajkovski Funeral