Search

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of corruption on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Western Balkans countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania. Secondary data from The World Bank, Transparency International, and International Monetary Fund databases were utilized to complete this study for 2012-2020. The built model of multiple linear regression included four independent variables, namely: Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Western Balkan Corruption Ranking (WBCR), Exchange Rate (EXG), and Inflation Rate (INFL), as well as FDI as a dependent variable, and data effects were analyzed through the SPPS scientific research software program. The results found that if CPI and WBCR were to increase by one unit, FDI would decrease by 0.088, namely 0.624, while if EXG and INFL were to increase by one unit, FDI would increase by 0.165, namely 0.236. In order to fight corruption and potentially attract more foreign direct investment, the governments of these countries should work to harmonize their anti-corruption laws with those of the European Union. In order to prevent the negative consequences of FDI inflows, they should also maintain a balanced rate of inflation, which entails stabilizing exchange rate fluctuations.

In this paper, we studied the impact of public education expenditure on GDP per capita in North Macedonia from 1991 to 2020. The main questions we examined were: 1) What is the relationship between public education expenditure and GDP per capita in the country in the short run?; 2) Does a long-term relationship between the aforementioned variables exist?; and 3) What are the policy implications? This research was based on the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, originally developed by Pesaran et al. (2001). The empirical estimations produced interesting findings. In the short run, the relationship between public spending on education and GDP per capita in North Macedonia was negative and statistically significant. The long-term relationship between the variables remained negative but statistically insignificant. These results were robust and consistent with results from earlier empirical studies. The results suggested that government expenditures on education did not contribute to economic growth in North Macedonia in the analyzed period, ceteris paribus. We concluded that, from a public policy standpoint, intervention in the education system's financing is necessary to facilitate the transformation of education expenditures into productive human capital and enhance the nation's economic development.

This thesis is a critical analysis of the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of North Macedonia, following the chronological process dating from the gaining of the county’s independence, through the armed confl ict in 2001 that brought constitutional changes, to today. The first decade after the breakup of Yugoslavia was crucial for the North Macedonian state and its citizens. The writing/creation of the constitution of the new, independent state was not an easy process and it did not pass peacefully nor did it pass without any problems. The complex social process and relations have initiated the need for amendments to the Constitution, which, since its adoption in 1991 until today, has been changed 32 times in order to adapt to new, emerging situations and to give constitutional and legal responses to the inherent challenges. Of course, proper changes also occurred in the political system itself as a result of numerous factors, which have more or less influenced its character and shape.

Communication is a process and part of human identity without which man could not exist today. Intercultural communication is a form of global communication, which refers to intercultural interactions between different cultures that appear in a social group with different religious, social, ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds. North Macedonia and Kosovo are considered multicultural states which have ethnic identities within them, which are part of the mosaic and the promotion of intercultural communication is a test of the democratic development of these states. Therefore, this study aims to research and analyze the role of intercultural communication between local communities in both countries, communication of local government with the community, and community participation in public meetings as part of local decision-making. The methodology applied in this paper is the study of literature and the development of quantitative research with local communities. The results show that even though the participation of local communities is low in both countries, due to various factors, intercultural communication has broken down barriers between communities and has influenced the initiatives for the organization and development of the community itself.

This article analyzes the informative component of the Macedonian public administration as an imminent part of the accession process towards the European Union. The interaction of the public administration with the citizens, NGO's, media, and other relevant "stakeholders" in the Macedonian society is an additional impetus for the acceleration and improvement of the integrative process. The main research methods which will be used in this paper are a descriptive method, a content analysis method, and a comparative method.

Poverty and social exclusion are often associated with unemployment, but being employed is not always sufficient to provide decent living conditions for workers and their families. In this context, the aim of this article, drawing on SILC micro data, is to assess the underlying causes of severe material deprivation in North Macedonia from the point of view of employment status, particularly the differences between employed and unemployed workers. The results show that employed workers face a much greater risk of severe material deprivation if they are positioned in the so-called secondary labour market; while the unemployed with low capital accumulation and those living in households with low work intensity face the highest risks of all. North Macedonia’s adjustment mechanisms do help cushion the consequences, but the article concludes with several policy recommendations for additional action to reduce severe material deprivation covering: education and training; active labour market policies; unionisation and collective bargaining; wage subsidies and taxation; and a statutory minimum wage.

The worldwide pandemic caused by the coronavirus has disturbed the pure conception of the separation of powers. States forced by the newly established situation, declared a state of emergency, thus the Republic of North Macedonia was not an exception. This paper will focus on the divergences from the separation of powers in the countries from the Western Balkans and across Europe whose departure in the well-established system of checks and balances intrigued the media. The case of North Macedonia was maybe the most interesting because in time of declaring the state of emergency by the President of the Republic, the legislative branch of power – the Assembly was dissolute which meant that the already difficult situation became more complicated to establish a balance between the branches of power to function in protecting the general health of the citizens and the fundamental human rights and freedoms.

This study aims to analyze variables that influence access to bank loans by SMEs in Kosovo and North Macedonia. Research methodology is compound by primary and secondary data. We hypothesized that the age of the SMEs, business size, written business plan, collateral type, and business experience before starting as an owner, owner education, and owner gender influence access to bank loans for SMEs. Econometric model results revealed that age of the SMEs, business size, and written business plan has a significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs, while, collateral type, business experience before starting as an owner, owner level of education, and owner gender have no significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs in the Republic of Kosovo. Furthermore, from the results obtained we revealed that age of the SMEs, business size, written business plan, and owners’ level of education has a significant influence on bank loan borrowed by SMEs, whereas, collateral type, business experience before starting as owner and owners gender have no significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs in the Republic of North Macedonia. The findings suggest some future lines of research at the end and provide recommendations for the main stakeholders of this field of study.

The theories behind extradition, the rule of “prosecute or extradite” and the idea of using due diligence when prosecuting and punishing a criminal offender need to be explored in detail, relying on both customary international law and treaty-based law. Luring fugitives into international waters or cooperating with another state in the frames of the process of extradition are options that may help in bringing fugitives before justice. The Republic of Macedonia among other states has recognized the need for cooperation in criminal matters through the use of extradition as one of the earliest forms of inter-state cooperation in any domain. This paper explains how extradition is governed in the internal legislation of the Republic of Macedonia and the necessary changes which have been made in order to increase the effectiveness of extradition and to preserve human rights from possible violations.

The myth that the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) can be the ‘cure’ for fragile heterogeneous societies has been debunked shortly before its 10th anniversary. The general research question of this article is how political parties in Macedonia assess the role of the OFA in building functioning multiethnic society, while the specific puzzle is what accounts for the radicalism of the nationalistic rhetoric of the political parties in Macedonia? We argue that the assessment of the success of the OFA implementation would depend on the parties’ position of power and the type of ethnic community (the majority, majority-minority or non-majority minority). We find the bad economic situation and the exclusion from the government to be the most perceived radicalizers of nationalistic party rhetoric in Macedonia. This case study uses qualitative analyses of thirty semi-structured interviews with high representatives of the 26 most important political parties in Macedonia.

Irregular migration on the Western Balkan route has marked an unprecedented number during the last five years. Evidence indicates that both, non-European nationals and Western Balkan citizens have been involved in this complex migratory flow being exposed to various risks of human trafficking. But Western Balkan countries are source, transit and destination countries of human trafficking while their states are not well organized to implement a comprehensive and well-coordinated regional response to combat it. This paper aims at examining challenges faced by the Western Balkan countries to converge anti-trafficking response while facing increased irregular migratory waves. Using secondary data it illustrates various disparities and differences among them concluding that a well-coordinated, multi-faceted and integrated regional response is needed to combat this humanitarian problem. (author's abstract)

One of the fundamental values of the constitutional order in the Republic of Macedonia is the principle of equality which guarantees the equal rights regardless of the gender. The recognition and the promotion of the gender equal opportunities are a necessary precondition for democratic development. In the past 24 years of the independence, the political parties in the Republic of Macedonia passed through various stages and changes, which include the attitudes of the parties towards women issues. This paper will research the capacity of the main political parties in the Macedonian bloc, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE, to develop, adopt and implement gender sensitive policies. The research will be based on the analysis of the election programs regarding the Parliamentary elections in 1990, 2002 and2011. The analysis will cover the development of the gender sensitivity in the election programs of SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE for the period of two decades.

"The attention of this paper focuses on international relations and the impact of public. This paper focuses on international relations and the impact of public diplomacy. The main goal of this study is to analyze the modern instruments of Public diplomacy that are available to countries aiming to achieve three goals in realizing their national interests: first, to overcome negative images from their past, second, to disseminate their values and model of governing and, third, which is most frequently the case, made widely known their comparative economic and trade advantages for foreign investment. Having in mind the Macedonian example, some analysts, when talking about the introduction of EU to the, citizens, believe that they do not sufficiently explain what it means membership in Euro-Atlantic structures. The Republic of Macedonia shall be used as a reference to the case study in the thesis where numerous practical examples are applied to Public diplomacy in the country recent past record in the field of public diplomacy." (author's abstract)

"This paper is about development of investigative activity procedures and prosecutions in the international tribunals since the Nuremberg Charter, with special reference to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and cases involving the Republic of Macedonia. According to that, the paper firstly indicates the International Court of Justice and Statute of ICTY where the tribunal has jurisdiction over four crimes: grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of laws or customs of war, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia from the start of the war in 1991 until to a date to be determined by the Security Council upon the restoration of peace." (author's abstract)

Between 2006 and 2017, the political power in the Republic of Macedonia was predominantly held by the Christian-democratic party VMRO-DPMNE. Its increasing opposition to gender and sexual equality manifested, inter alia, in the imposition of an antidiscrimination law, which did not explicitly recognise sexual orientation as a ground of discrimination, the replacement of the rather liberal abortion law with a restrictive one, and the two attempts to constitutionally define marriage as a heterosexual union. Building upon earlier inquiries into the development of the LGBT movement in Macedonia and the introduction of the new abortion law, I examine here the discourse which the ruling coalitions used to justify the removal of the term ‘sexual orientation’ from the antidiscrimination law, and the need for a constitutional definition of marriage. I explore further how the authorities pushed their conservative agenda by undermining democracy through infringement of the official legislative procedures and suppression of dissent. In closing, I underline the retrograde impact of de-democratisation on the already and the yet to be attained progressive legislation and practices in the realm of gender and sexual equality.

The research item of the paper is the term "judicial corruption". This particular term was ignored in the majority of countries of the Council of Europe. Judicial corruption as a term was first mentioned in the PACE documents- Resolution 1703 (2010) on judicial corruption. The author is trying to give an answer to the question- Could there be a balance between establishing the responsibility of the judge and the independence guarantees? The term judicial corruption should not be manipulated with, i.e. the criminal cases of corruption where the judges and prosecutors are involved should be proved and led in line with all ECHR Article 6 fair trial requirements, and in compliance with the principle for the presumption of innocence.

The southern parts of Yugoslavia, especially Macedonia, experienced massive emigration by non-Slavic Muslims in the 1950s after an agreement was concluded between Yugoslavia and Turkey in 1953. The movement raises questions of ethnic belonging and policy towards minorities in socialist Yugoslavia, especially regarding the Albanian population in Kosovo. It also raises questions regarding the entanglement of (migration) policy and emigration and the character of state intervention in an on-going emigration process. Thus, the author's aim is to analyse the pillars of migration policy, the legal and regulatory framework as well as the extent, causes and consequences of state intervention on emigration processes to Turkey. The author further questions the emigration factors and their ethno-political dimensions, also examining how the mass emigration of Muslims influenced different fields of society in the region of origin as well as the Muslim lifeworld in the region.

The paper evaluates the types of e-democracy initiatives on local level in the Republic of Macedonia. E-democracy initiatives were classified by the elements of the democratic process, which they work to enhance: transparency, accountability and active participation. For the purpose of our research we analysed websites of the units of local self-government in the Republic of Macedonia in the period of 2017, with special emphasis on e-democracy initiatives in order to provide a framework for classification. The research discovered many outstanding local e-democracy initiatives. However, there is a little evidence that these initiatives have done much to ameliorate the problems on local level that Republic of Macedonia is facing, such as: weak democratic institutions and low level of citizen participation in democratic processes using ICT as intermediary. The paper also provides some recommendations for improving e-democracy initiatives on local level and their performance in general.

The period since the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 has shown the political importance of language, as well as the political tensions that can arise over language-related issues. For a long time, multilingualism in Macedonia was a problem that threatened the unity and stability of the country. In 2001 the armed conflict in Macedonia showed that governmental policies of ignoring certain issues fueled ethnic divisions and facilitated a climate of insecurity. In order to terminate the armed conflict, Macedonia has since introduced constitutional changes relevant to linguistic diversity. The constitutional amendment regulating the official use of languages in Macedonia was as a result of a necessary compromise to terminate the armed conflict. The amendment is formulated in a vague and contradictory manner; full of loopholes, views provided on official languages leads to different interpretations and is still subject to disputes between experts, as well as party leaders in Macedonia. This vagueness led to politicians using the topic of the official use of languages as a talking point in every electoral campaign since 2001. This article will examine the challenges and possibilities that came from the constitutional amendment on the use of languages in Macedonia. It will also analyze the loopholes of the legal norms on the use of languages, and the problems of its implementation.

Concession as a precondition for relatively reserved right, gives the foreigners almost equal rights as domestic citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. Our goal is to address the legal aspects and the procedure of giving the right to concession. This paper is mainly qualitative research of desk work on International private Law, Law on public procurements, Law on concessions and public private partnership in the Republic of Macedonia along with a case study on Concession on power plants in the Republic of Macedonia. Renewable energies are the future, which is why law researchers and law makers need to contribute in making of better laws that adapt to upcoming events in the energy field.

The international law which regulates the formation, functioning and legal capacity of international organizations, and also the international law in the United Nations system, are always relevant and subject to progressive development, because the international relations are in constant dynamics. Each newly created state has one major foreign policy goal during its first years of formation or after obtaining independence – admission to the membership of the United Nations. That is because the decision of admission to the membership of the UN guarantees the country’s statehood which can no longer be questioned. The country becomes part of a global community of nations – the international community. Therefore, the present paper is a qualitative research regarding the admission of new states to the international community, and the decision-making process concerning the admission of new Member States to the UN.

EU enlargement policy toward the Western Balkans has never been as contested as today. French President Emmanuel Macron has made reform of the EU accession process a precondition to opening membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia. While the current stalemate severely undermines the EU’s reform and stabilization agenda in the region, it also offers an opportunity for an overhaul of the accession process, which is long overdue.

This article aims to explain citizens’ support for the Law on the Use of Languages (LUL) through their demographic characteristics, political participation, party affiliation, and ethnic belonging. We base this article on an empirical ordered logistic regression model using an original database of 669 Macedonian respondents. We compare the support of the Macedonian public for the LUL with the support for the general idea of promotion of the use of the languages of the non-majority ethnic communities in Macedonia. We argue that both the support for the promotion of minority languages in Macedonia, as well as the support for this concrete Law, depends mainly on citizens’ ethnicity and party affiliation. We find statistically significant opposition for the LUL among the ethnic Macedonians, the (Macedonian / mainstream) opposition parties, the participants in the so-called ‘For a Shared Macedonia’ initiative, and those whose mother tongue is a minority language other than the Albanian.

Democracy begins and ends with the media – according to this worldly recognized sentence, every ordinary Balkan could estimate the democratic perspective of its own country. That is why the effect of the new media (social networks), deserves continuous scientific and research attention, also done in this paper basically through comparative and statistic methods, with specific analysis of the Macedonian case. The media revolution produced largely positive changes in everyday life. But negative effects could not be abstracted: Internet - populism, loss of confidence in the media, fake news, and hate speech. Perhaps the first solution that comes to mind is law regulation. But knowing that clear basal of the network services is freedom of speech and expression, any attempt of the regulation (objectively or not) is legitimately considered censorship. This paper attempts to answer the question: is it possible journalism to fight fake news through a direct media battle?

This paper deals with the values, priorities and political behavior of the young people in the Republic of Macedonia. Data from recent researches are used to show the main specificities of the young generation from the aspect of their political culture. Results show domination of apathy, dissatisfaction, opportunism and civic passiveness, which should not be characteristic for generations born and socialized after the political transformation in the country.

In the contemporary societies people try to build an individualized approach through life, while the collective identity coercions starts to pale. This ratio consists of many aspects like the intensity of the existing collective identities, the consistency of transmission of the parent’s way of living to their children and the individual choices that are available for the young people in the specific social context. In Macedonian society there are some modern processes concerning the development of stronger personal identities of the youth, and their attempts to change the way of living comparing the way their parents did. Having in mind that in Macedonia live citizens that are members of different cultural and ethnic groups the analysis will show even local differences elaborating these phenomena. There are indications that there is some fluctuation towards bigger individualization among youth and the evidence that the young people still lives their parent’s collective identities. The target group of the research is the student population, in the study that was done on the sample of 707 respondents, chosen by quotas, from the six universities in the country. The main thesis is that the students are still "overshadowed of the successes" of their parents past social experience, that is strongly connected with the collective nature of their identities. The main research questions are the state of the collective identities, the relation between the parents and the student's collective identification, and the evidence of stronger development of the self-confidence among students. (author's abstract)

Together with history, culture represents one of the most basic aspects of the fabric of everyday life. It gives us a sense of identity and tells us who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Cultural policy broadly defines the meaning of social practice, and deals with subjectivity and identity, thereby playing a central role in the building of a sense of self. In the era of globalization, culture transcends borders between countries and can play the role of the connective tissue of the "imagined nation". It is used in the voluntary and organic approach to defining the nation. While the organic approach emphasizes the role of culture in highlighting the specificity of the nation, voluntary discourse focuses on the culture's universal value. This paper will analyze how culture is being used as a resource in the construction of the contemporary Macedonian nation. (author's abstract)

1\. Introduction 5 2\. Borders and European Integration 6 3\. Italy - Slovenia 7 4\. Croatia - Slovenia 10 5\. FYROM - Greece 12 6\. Conclusion 16 References 18, This paper explores a neglected aspect of the wider debate about EU enlargement; namely bilateral disputes between a Member State and an applicant, where the former uses, or threatens to use, its membership to block membership to resolve a dispute. As we show through analysis of three cases - Italy and Slovenia, Slovenia and Croatia, and Greece and Macedonia - the EU’s transformative power does not always flow ‘outwards’ towards the state seeking membership. This raises interesting questions about enlargement as international bargaining between sovereign states filtered via a supranational entity formally responsible for the negotiations. Our cases suggest limits to the EU’s transformative power in the context of disputes that are linked to the meaning and significance of borders. When enlargement intersects with identity politics, the result can be potentially destabilizing in ways that can lead to a decline in the EU’s legitimacy. It is not surprising that the Commission prefers disputes to be resolved bilaterally or via a third-party.