The guns fell silent in 2001, but North Macedonia is still grappling with the legacy of its ethnic conflict.
Twenty-five years after the Ohrid Framework Agreement ended the fighting, ethnic Macedonians and Albanians live in peace, yet analysts say genuine reconciliation remains unattained.
The six-month conflict that erupted in February 2001 is often described as the final chapter of former Yugoslavia’s violent breakup.
But unlike the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, it was contained before it could spiralย into a larger tragedy, thanks in large part to a political compromise brokered by NATO, the United States and leading EU countries.
Agreement enters a new phase
ะขwenty-five years later, the political order that emerged from the Ohrid Framework Agreement is entering a new phase.
When the conservative Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE party returned to power two years ago, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the main ethnic Albanian party, went into opposition.
This development ended two decades of governing influence for Ali Ahmeti, who transformed himself from leader of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) during the 2001 conflict into one of the country’s most influential political figures.
Ahmeti, who swapped his guerrilla uniform for tailored black suits and white shirts after the Ohrid Agreement, now argues that ethnic relations have deteriorated over the past two years.
“Attacks on the official use of the Albanian language, the abolition of equitable and adequate representation, the weakening of mechanisms designed to prevent majoritarian rule and the promotion of a monoethnic concept of the state are serious signals about the direction in which the country is moving,” he said in a statement marking August 2, North Macedonia’s national holiday.
Balancing ethnic diversity and political stability
Home to a large ethnic Albanian minority, North Macedonia has spent much of the past quarter-century trying to balance its ethnic diversity within a stable political system.
According to the latest census, Albanians make up over a quarter of North Macedonia’s population of 1.8 million.
For Bujar Osmani, a senior DUI official and former foreign minister, the key question is no longer how much of the Ohrid Agreement has been implemented, but whether its gains can be preserved.
“On the 25th anniversary of the Ohrid Agreement, the question is no longer only what we have implemented since 2001. The question is whether we will allow, within a few years, the dismantling of what has kept North Macedonia stable for two and a half decades,” he told DW.
2001: A wound that has not fully healed
The legacy of the 2001 conflict runs deep.
The fighting claimed the lives of 72 soldiers and police officers, while the number of ethnic Albanian insurgents killed remains disputed, with estimates ranging from about 100 to several hundred. More than 170,000 people were displaced, including 74,000 within the country.
The Ohrid Framework Agreement that ended the conflict reshaped North Macedonia’s political system, introducing power-sharing mechanisms designed to give minority communities a greater voice in decision-making.
Laws affecting sensitive issues such as language, education and national symbols require support not only from a parliamentary majority but also from representatives of minority groups.
While largely in line with European standards on minority rights, the arrangement did not end disputes over equality and representation.
“The agreement achieved a large part of its historic mission, but its essence cannot be declared complete,” Osmani said. “Ohrid is not an administrative checklist that can be fulfilled once and then archived. It is a system of balance that must be respected continuously.”
Macedonian majority also voices grievances
At the heart of the debate are differing views on Ohrid’s legacy.
While many ethnic Macedonians argue that affirmative representation policies have created unfair advantages for Albanians, Albanian politicians say the real concern is the gradual erosion of rights secured under the agreement.
“There is discrimination that frustrates many in the Macedonian community because Albanians are often given priority in recruitment to meet representation quotas in the public sector,” said Stojance Angelov, a police general during the 2001 conflict.
Angelov said such practices put ethnic affiliation ahead of qualifications.
Osmani rejects that narrative, arguing that recent government policies have weakened protections for Albanians that were introduced after the conflict.
“At first, all of this was concealed behind political propaganda, technical explanations and claims that it was merely modernization of the system. Today, as that noise gradually fades, it is becoming much clearer what is actually being called into question,” he said.
Defensive nationalism on the rise
Domestic and international observers warn that years of political crises and disputes over national identity have slowed reforms and reinforced ethnic divisions.
Harald Schenker of the German peacebuilding organization Pro Peace says the Ohrid Agreement transformed North Macedonia’s institutions, but not necessarily relations between its communities.
“Ethnic distance is increasing, the education system remains segregated, and the two communities understand each other less and less,” he told DW.
According to Schenker, the agreement created new institutions and rules of governance but failed to foster reconciliation or a shared vision for the future.
“Each side maintains its own interpretation of what happened in 2001,” he said. “Twenty-five years on, there is a need for platforms where people can discuss these differences openly. Different perspectives exist, but people need to talk to one another.”
Stalled EU integration
At the same time, years of stalled EU integration have fueled uncertainty about the country’s direction. Although North Macedonia became an EU candidate country in 2005, negotiations have still not formally begun.
After overcoming a decades-long dispute with Greece over its name, North Macedonia has faced new obstacles stemming from Bulgaria’s demands relating to history, language and national identity.
The prolonged stalemate has not only frustrated reform efforts but has also deepened interethnic tensions, as the fading prospect of EU membership has removed one of the few unifying projects shared by both Macedonians and Albanians.
Against that backdrop, questions about North Macedonia’s future remain closely tied to the legacy of the Ohrid Agreement. Next month, the country will mark 35 years since independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Osmani does not believe the country faces the risk of a new conflict but warns that ethnic tensions can build gradually.
“I do not believe citizens want a new problem,” he said. “But ethnic tensions do not begin with conflict. They begin when one community gradually loses confidence that the system treats it as an equal.”
Angelov shares that view.
“For me, the greatest achievement is that, whereas we once looked at each other through rifle sights, today I drink coffee with some of the veteran fighters of the Albanian NLA,” he said.
Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan