History of the Republic of Macedonia
This article is about the History of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. For history of the whole Macedonian region, see Macedonia.After the First Balkan War of 1912-13, Vardar Macedonia was made part of Serbia as Vardarska banovina ("Province of Vardar") and subsequently the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, whose 1929 constitution also called the area Vardarska banovina. In 1946, the province was given status as an autonomous "People's Republic of Macedonia" in the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the 1963 Constitution of Yugoslavia, it was slightly renamed, to "Socialist Republic of Macedonia" (like all the others).
On September 17, 1991, the Macedonian republic declared independence from Yugoslavia as the Republic of Macedonia. However, international recognition of the new country was delayed by Greece's objection to the use of what it considered a Hellenic name and symbols:
- The name: Macedonia was claimed to be a Greek name, already in use for the Greek region of Macedonia.
- The flag: the sixteen-ray "Vergina Sun" star that was to appear on the flag was a symbol of the ancient state of Macedon, to which Greece claimed to be the sole heir. (For more on this, see Vergina.)
- The constitution: a reference in Article 49 to the Republic caring "for the status and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian expatriates, assist[ing] their cultural development and promot[ing] links with them," which Greece interpreted as encouraging separatism among its own Macedonian Slav minority.
Greece was still dissatisfied and it imposed a trade blockade in February 1994. The sanctions were lifted September 1995 after the Republic of Macedonia changed its flag to an eight-ray sun and not the Vergina Sun, changed the constitution to state explicitly that "The Republic of Macedonia has no territorial pretensions towards any neighboring state".
The two countries agreed to normalize 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 FYROM name, other international organisations adopted the same convention, including the European Union, the European Broadcasting Union, NATO and the International Olympic Committee, among others. Most diplomats are accredited to the republic using the FYROM designation.
Conversely, at least 40 countries have recognised the country by its constitutional name – the Republic of Macedonia, rather than FYROM. These include the Philippines, Iran, Estonia, Malaysia, Russia, Pakistan, China, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and others.
A permanent agreement on how the Macedonian republic should be referred to internationally has not yet been reached.
During the Kosovo War of 1999, FYROM co-operated with NATO, but managed to stay out of the conflict. Some 360,000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo entered FYROM during the war, threatening to disrupt the balance between the Macedonian and Albanian ethnic groups in the country. Many later returned to Kosovo, but ethnic tensions grew.
In the spring of 2001, Albanian rebels calling themselves the National Liberation Army (probably made up of former KLA members) took up arms in the west of FYROM, demanding that the constitution be rewritten to grant Albanians equal rights. The guerillas received support from Albanians in NATO-controlled Kosovo and the UCPMB guerilla in the demilitarized zone between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia. The fighting was concentrated in and around Tetovo, the second largest city in FYROM.
After a joint NATO-Serb crackdown on UCPMB and NLA supporters in Kosovo, EU officials were able to negotiate a cease-fire in June. The government would give ethnic Albanians greater civil rights, and the guerilla groups would voluntarily relinquish their weapons to NATO monitors. This agreement was a success, and in August 3500 NATO soldiers conducted "Operations Essential Harvest" to retrieve the arms. Directly after the operation finished in September, the NLA officially dissolved itself.
On February 26, 2004, President Boris Trajkovski died in a plane crash on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results of the official investigation revealed that the cause of the plane accident was procedural mistakes by the crew, committed during the approach to land at Mostar airport.