Poll on local laws could stall Macedonian accession

By David Cronin

Date: 28/10/04

MACEDONIA'S attempts to join the EU could be stalled by a forthcoming referendum upsetting reform of its local government.

Opposition parties in the ex-Yugoslav republic - an applicant for EU membership - have triggered the 7 November poll in a bid to thwart a decentralization law which would give ethnic Albanians more say in running municipal authorities.

This week, Britain's Europe Minister Denis MacShane on a visit to Skopje urged a boycott of the poll, which requires a 50% turnout to be valid. He regards the new law as essential for implementing the EU-backed Ohrid agreement, which ushered in a truce between the government and Albanian guerillas after the latter's uprising in 2001.

But opinion polls indicate that 70% of the electorate could participate.

"Of course, the Macedonian people have a right to make their democratic choice," said Nicholas Whyte from the International Crisis Group. "But if this referendum passes, important local government reform will take at least six months. Inevitably, this will mean delays in the country's Euro-Atlantic integration."

But Trajko Slaveski from the Association for Modern Economy in Macedonia claims that the law "violates the letter of the Ohrid agreement, which says there should not be territorial solutions to ethnic issues".

The new law has been perceived by many analysts as a step towards federalization along ethnic lines. It would mean that the south-western city of Struga, for instance, would be controlled by ethnic Macedonians, as they form the majority there.

"The spirit of the Ohrid agreement was multi-ethnic but this law pushes for a bi-national state," Slaveski added. "It lays the foundation for the division of Macedonia in the near future."

Article says that Macedonia's attempts to join the EU could be stalled by the referendum on 7 November 2004 upsetting reform of its local government.