(148) Macedonia As with Croatia, Macedonia signed an SAA with the EU in April 2001, and the application for membership followed in March 2004. The EU granted Macedonia candidate status in 2005 and completed the screening process a year later. Although the political situation remains relatively stable, paramount to the EU is a successful integration of the sizable ethnic minority of Albanians. In a 2009 report the Commission listed such challenges as transparency; professionalism and independence of the civil service, the media, and the judiciary; gender discrimination in the workplace; corruption; and the discrimination of the Roma. This assessment,however, represented a marked improvement from the controversial parliamentary elections of 2008, which were marred by voter intimidation and violence with an estimated 15 percent of votes deemed to be irregular by international observers. Given the multitude of challenges regarding the political and administrative criteria, by 2010 the member states had not started the thirty-five chapter negotiation process. There is also the continuing controversy over the official name of the country which, at the moment, is the rather awkward sounding Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). This issue is frequently brought to the fore by Greece, which has a province that is called Macedonia and does not want a term to be used that does not apply to its own territory. Until Greece and Macedonia (or FYROM, if you prefer) reach an agreement, the road to EU membership will remain rocky.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 03:56:08 +0000
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