AI-written summary of reporting by Deutsche Welle. No human editor reviewed this. AI can misread or omit facts — read the original, linked below.
ABSTRACT

Twenty-five years after the Ohrid Framework Agreement ended a six-month conflict between ethnic Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in what is now North Macedonia, analysts and political figures say the country has maintained peace but has not achieved genuine reconciliation, while disputes over minority rights and representation continue under a changed political landscape.

Deutsche Welle

North Macedonia marks 25 years since Ohrid Agreement amid ongoing ethnic divisions

North Macedonia marks 25 years since Ohrid Agreement amid ongoing ethnic divisions
Aug 12, 2026, 1:56 PM

Twenty-five years after the Ohrid Framework Agreement ended a six-month conflict between ethnic Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in what is now North Macedonia, analysts and political figures say the country has maintained peace but has not achieved genuine reconciliation, while disputes over minority rights and representation continue under a changed political landscape.

Context

The 2001 conflict, which began in February of that year, is often characterized as the final chapter of the violent breakup of former Yugoslavia. It claimed the lives of 72 soldiers and police officers; the number of ethnic Albanian insurgents killed remains disputed, with estimates ranging from approximately 100 to several hundred. More than 170,000 people were displaced, including 74,000 within the country.

The conflict was contained before escalating further, in part through a political compromise brokered by NATO, the United States, and leading EU countries. The resulting Ohrid Framework Agreement reshaped North Macedonia's political system by introducing power-sharing mechanisms intended to give minority communities greater influence in decision-making. Under the arrangement, legislation touching on sensitive areas such as language, education, and national symbols requires support not only from a parliamentary majority but also from minority representatives.

According to the most recent census, ethnic Albanians constitute more than a quarter of North Macedonia's population of 1.8 million.

The political order established by the agreement entered a new phase approximately two years ago when the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party returned to power, sending the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), the main ethnic Albanian party, into opposition. This ended roughly two decades of governing influence for Ali Ahmeti, who had led the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army during the 2001 conflict before becoming a prominent political figure.

North Macedonia became an EU candidate country in 2005, but formal accession negotiations have not yet begun. The country resolved a long-running dispute with Greece over its name, but subsequently faced new obstacles arising from Bulgaria's demands concerning history, language, and national identity. Observers note that the stalled EU integration process has deepened interethnic tensions by removing one of the few unifying goals shared by both communities. The country is due to mark 35 years of independence from former Yugoslavia next month.

Harald Schenker of the German peacebuilding organization Pro Peace told DW that ethnic distance in North Macedonia is increasing, the education system remains segregated, and mutual understanding between the two communities is diminishing. He said the Ohrid Agreement transformed the country's institutions and rules of governance but did not foster reconciliation or a shared vision for the future, with each side retaining its own interpretation of what occurred in 2001.

All Perspectives
Ali Ahmeti, DUI chairman: Ahmeti, now in opposition, argues that ethnic relations have deteriorated over the past two years. In a statement marking North Macedonia's national holiday on August 2, he cited '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' as 'serious signals about the direction in which the country is moving.'
Bujar Osmani, senior DUI official and former foreign minister: Osmani told DW that the central question on the agreement's 25th anniversary is 'no longer only what we have implemented since 2001' but 'whether we will allow, within a few years, the dismantling of what has kept North Macedonia stable for two and a half decades.' He described the Ohrid Agreement as 'not an administrative checklist that can be fulfilled once and then archived' but 'a system of balance that must be respected continuously.' He rejected the narrative that representation quotas are unfair, arguing instead that recent government policies have weakened protections for Albanians secured after the conflict, adding that what is 'actually being called into question' is becoming clearer as political justifications fade. He said he does not believe the country faces the risk of a new conflict but warned that 'ethnic tensions do not begin with conflict — they begin when one community gradually loses confidence that the system treats it as an equal.'
Stojance Angelov, police general during the 2001 conflict: Angelov said 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,' arguing that such practices place ethnic affiliation ahead of qualifications. He nonetheless expressed a positive personal assessment, stating: '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.'
Harald Schenker, Pro Peace (German peacebuilding organization): Schenker told DW that the Ohrid Agreement transformed North Macedonia's institutions but 'not necessarily relations between its communities,' noting that 'ethnic distance is increasing, the education system remains segregated, and the two communities understand each other less and less.' He said that 25 years on, 'there is a need for platforms where people can discuss these differences openly,' adding that 'different perspectives exist, but people need to talk to one another.'
Position not represented in the source reporting: VMRO-DPMNE (current governing party) — central to disputes over Ohrid Agreement implementation but given no opportunity to respond to DUI allegations of erosion of minority rights.
Gaps & Unknowns
  • The current VMRO-DPMNE government's stated position on minority rights, the Ohrid Agreement's implementation, and the specific policy changes described by DUI officials as erosions is not presented in the source.
  • Independent verification of claims made by either ethnic Albanian or ethnic Macedonian political figures regarding specific policy changes since VMRO-DPMNE returned to power is not provided.
  • The exact number of ethnic Albanian insurgents killed in the 2001 conflict is described as disputed; no authoritative figure or body is cited as the source of competing estimates.
  • No detail is provided on the specific legal or administrative changes the current government has made that are referenced by Osmani and Ahmeti.
Sources & Further Reading
  1. Deutsche Welle — original

Read the original at Deutsche Welle

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