Elections 2016

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Elections 2016 www.civil.org.mk ELECTIONS 2016 FINAL REPORT OF THE LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, 2016 ELECTIONS 2016 FINAL REPORT OF THE LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, 2016 CIVIL - Center For Freedom SKOPJE, 2017 ELECTIONS 2016: FINAL REPORT OF THE LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA Publisher: CIVIL – Center for Freedom For the Publisher: Xhabir M. Deralla Editorial/Project Team of CIVIL Xhabir M. Deralla (editor of the publication), Sinisha Stankovic (editor in CIVIL Media), Biljana Jordanovska, Monika Tales- ka, Maja Ivanovska, Dehran Muratov, Ermin Klimenta, Dr. Sasho Ordanoski (political analyst), Aleksandar Novakoski (legal expert), Sandra Gavrilovska (legal expert), Petrit Saraçini (media expert), Goran Naumovski (financial expert), Dragan Zelić (GONG, Croatia, election monitoring expert), Heather Roberson Gaston (USA, human rights expert), Sonja Eftovska (CIVIL Executive Committee Chairperson), Marija Tegovska, Marijana Gugoski, Diana Tahiri, Kreshnik Ajdini Language services: Natasha Cvetkovska, Diana Tahiri, Kreshnik Ajdini, Heather Roberson Gaston, Gordana Aceska, MA Layout & Design: Ivana Taleska Photographs: Biljana Jordanovska, CIVIL archives Illustrations: Miroslav Stojanovic, Xhabir M. Deralla Printing: TP Dule 99, Skopje Findings and standpoints presented in this publica - tion are solely of CIVIL and its authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the donor. This publication is financed with German funds from the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. This publication is made available the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Contacts: CIVIL, Maksim Gorky 31/1, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia 02/5209176 | [email protected] | [email protected] Web: www.civil.org.mk Facebook: www.facebook.com/civil.mk | Twitter: www.twitter.com/ CivilMacedonia YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/Civil.Macedonia ISBN-10 608-4815-06-5 ISBN-13 978-608-4815-06-8 EAN 9786084815068 CONTENT | 4 Fear, divisions, captured state... And defiance! | 10 Project “Free Macedonia” | 16 (Pre)Election Recommendations od CIVIL | 22 Free elections are the only chance for restoring democracy and the rule of law | 28 Fierce political pressure | 36 CIVIL demands institutions and political parties to stop with the abuses and pressures | 46 Citizens, do not be afraid to vote! | 52 A peaceful, but tense vot- ing day, filled with numerous irregularities | 72 REVOTE IN TEARCE: A small illustration of major problems | 78 Chaos: Voters Register and State Election Commission | 88 Reports of foreign observation mis- sions | 96 Macedonia needs a process similar to denazification | 106 Where there is fear, there is no democracy! | 114 The right to vote has been violated! | 126 The Struggle for democracy in Macedonia | 134 Financing election campaigns of political parties | 142 The dirtiest Media Campaign ever | 158 Orchestrated media back to the old ways: Obedient government propagandists barely waited for the mandate of the ad-hoc body to end! | 162 A Black Campaign | 170 Two hundred difficult days for Macedonia | 188 The battles with the bad cyber-wolf| 196 About The Project FEAR, DIVI- SIONS, CAP- TURED STATE... AND DEFIANCE! Xabir Deralla, CIVIL, presentation of the principle: ZERO TOLERANCE for electoral irregularities FEAR, DIVISIONS, CAPTURED STATE...AND DEFIANCE! XHABIR DERALLA lection processes in the Republic of Macedonia bring an entire palette of socio-po- litical and institutional malfunctions to the surface. In many ways, the 2016 early parliamentary elections represented the legacy of ten years of institutional cap- ture by the ruling parties. Structural violence, widespread political corruption, and Eviolation of laws and democratic standards became a dominant feature of everyday life, marked with divisions, fear and intimidation. From blatant to subtle, these malfunctions and severe intrusion into the democratic system have created conditions for capturing of people’s minds, social engineering at an unprecedented extent. Traditional and new media continued to be an arena where dirty and aggressive propa- ganda replaced information, blurring the picture of what really goes on in the country. These challenges, CIVIL has been monitoring since 2008, concluding that the country’s media, with very few exceptions, are not up to the task of keeping voters informed about the choices that lay ahead, as they are dominated by the interests of the political parties. 6 The electoral system, namely the State Election Commission (SEC), has brought an over- whelming portion of irregularities and inefficiencies to the election process. There has been tremendous national and international efforts, expertise, support and new legisla- tion endowed to the SEC, providing unprecedented opportunities to this institution to safeguard the legitimacy of elections. In reality, the SEC became one of the most serious problems posed to the election process. Above all, the SEC has manifested utter arro- gance and has insulted citizens by its silence and failure to act. By doing so, the SEC has stripped thousands of citizens from their constitutional right to vote on the Election Day. To our great sadness, if not our surprise, our reports from Election Day are filled with instances of votes being cast by fictitious persons, or “phantom voters,” who have persis- tently remained on the voter rolls, while actual, living citizens of Macedonia were purged, with no system of redress. Only for this, if not for the many other failures, the SEC had to resign immediately. The arrogance of the institutions, starting with SEC, and ending with the government and state agencies, have continued after the elections. These bodies did not act to protect the vote on Election Day, nor have they provided the answers for the numerous malfunc- tions noted during the election process in the country. The election process and the campaign was filled with fierce nationalist hysteria, manipu- lation, and fear-mongering. The society emerged from this period more confused, angrier, and more fearful about the future than before. Abuse of public money, and complete and ruthless abuse and pressure over the public administration were more than obvious. This is such a regular and long-standing practice already that it is rarely addressed even by relevant and independent entities. When CIVIL observers ask questions about the abuse of the administration, the reaction is the same everywhere: “Oh, but that’s normal!” Severe social and systemic failures are so deeply rooted and have been the reality of people’s life for so long that have become “normality” and “banality”. Yet, some things changed in the last couple of years. It can be described with one single word. Defiance! 7 During the pre-election period and on Election Day itself, the office, monitoring teams, and many public events held by CIVIL - Center for Freedom saw record numbers of concerned citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, who wanted to take part in the political process or at the very least report their dissatisfaction and, in some cases, difficulties voting. This was preceded by two years of continuous protesting in which the streets were regularly overtaken by tens of thousands of citizens of Macedonia demanding a change in the system. The struggle of citizens for freedom, democracy and justice has been reflected in the election results. Despite the tremendous pressure and fraudulent activities of the ruling parties, a vast number of citizens voted for the opposition. And the ruling party, VMRO- DPMNE, which has been responsible for the dangerous trends of state capture and na- tionalist rhetoric, emerged with only a thin margin rather than a resounding victory. This election process had one more fantastic outcome. Tens of thousands of ethnic Alba- nians voted for the Social Democrats, which is considered an ethnic Macedonian political party. A strong message against nationalism and divisions has been openly displayed by all ethnic communities and has given hopes that citizens choose multiculturalism and democracy, instead of hatred and divisions. However, Macedonia is far from the free elections its people deserve. And, here we are. We proudly present a Report that is a result of selfless commitment of hundreds of people who worked together towards the creation of a comprehensive report and analysis of the political process and early parliamentary elections in the country. We bring the facts of reality, in spite of pressure and threats. We make no compromises, nor will we ever! This is the fruit of the work of three hundred people who worked with CIVIL for a long year that was filled with challenges and pressure. Many citizens that we met on the streets and town squares called us The Spartans. We proudly carried this nickname and we will con- tinue with untiring determination and persistency, to state the facts of reality regardless of how painful the truth may be. On behalf of CIVIL, I would like to express my gratitude to the donors of the projects that were related to the political process and elections monitoring throughout the year of 2016. 8 Let me also express my gratitude and appreciation for the commitment of all observers of CIVIL, the experts and all authors in this report. I thank all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia who endowed their confidence in us and shared valuable information with
Recommended publications
  • A Perfect Storm: Macedonia's Political Chaos and the Refugee Crisis
    A perfect storm: Macedonia’s political chaos and the refugee crisis blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/01/28/a-perfect-storm-macedonias-political-chaos-and-the-refugee-crisis/ 1/28/2016 Macedonia has been experiencing a prolonged political crisis, with the country’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, resigning in January this year ahead of new elections intended to be held in April. Dejan Marolov writes on the roots of the crisis and how the present standoff between the ruling party and the opposition has developed. He argues that resolving the political stalemate will be vital if Macedonia is to meet a number of key challenges it faces, such as the country’s location on one of the main routes for asylum seekers and migrants to travel into northern Europe. The Republic of Macedonia is facing possibly the toughest political crisis in its existence (if we exclude the armed conflict from 2001). As a result of the crisis, which was initiated by a phone tapping scandal, an EU-mediated agreement, known as the ‘Przino agreement’, was reached between the main political parties in July 2015 to undertake a series of measures to resolve the situation. This was to culminate in new, fair and democratic elections, which were set for April 2016. The resignation of the country’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, was part of this agreement – and it was this element that generated a particularly large level of attention. The roots of the current crisis Gruevski has been Prime Minister from mid-2006, which means he has governed the country for almost 10 years.
    [Show full text]
  • Macedonia, Serbia and the European Border Regime
    Barbara Beznec Marc Speer GOVERNING Marta Stojić Mitrović THE BALKAN ROUTE: MACEDONIA, SERBIA AND THE EUROPEAN BORDER RegIME Research Paper Series of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe 5 1 2 Barbara Beznec Marc Speer Marta Stojić Mitrović Governing the Balkan Route: Macedonia, Serbia and the European Border Regime 1 Impresum Barbara Beznec, Marc Speer, Marta Stojić Mitrović Governing the Balkan Route: Macedonia, Serbia and the European Border Regime Izdavač/Publisher: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe Urednica/Editor: Wenke Christoph Lektora i korektura/Proofreading: Joost van Beek Dizajn/Layout: шkart Fotografije/Photos: Marc Speer Tiraž/Circulation: 1.000 Štampa/Print: Standard 2, Beograd, decembar 2016. Godina izdanja/Publishing year: 2016 In cooperation with bordermonitoring.eu e.V. Supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe with funds from the German Federal Foreign Office. This publication or parts of it can be used by others for free as long as they provide a proper reference to the original publication. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. Responsibility for the information and views expressed therein lies with the authors. 2 Research Paper Series of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe No.5 3 1. Introduction Before summer 2015, the prevailing representation of irregularized migration to the EU concerned maritime migration routes. The dom- inant images depicted overcrowded boats in distress and tragedies like the capsizing of a boat just off the coast of Lampedusa on 3 Oc- tober 2013, when more than 300 people drowned. In summer 2015, however, the focus in the portrayal of migration shifted abruptly to the Balkan route.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom House, Its Academic Advisers, and the Author(S) of This Report
    Macedonia By Jovan Bliznakovski Capital: Skopje Population: 2.08 million GNI/capita, PPP: $14,310 Source: World Bank World Development Indicators. Nations in Transit Ratings and Averaged Scores 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 National Democratic 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.75 5.00 4.75 Governance Electoral Process 3.50 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.00 Civil Society 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.25 3.25 3.25 Independent Media 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 4.75 5.00 5.00 5.25 5.25 5.00 Local Democratic 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 4.00 Governance Judicial Framework 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 4.75 and Independence Corruption 4.25 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 4.75 Democracy Score 3.86 3.79 3.82 3.89 3.93 4.00 4.07 4.29 4.43 4.36 NOTE: The ratings reflect the consensus of Freedom House, its academic advisers, and the author(s) of this report. If consensus cannot be reached, Freedom House is responsible for the final ratings. The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest.
    [Show full text]
  • Macedonia's Post-Yugoslav Reality
    11 Macedonia’s Post-Yugoslav Reality Corruption, Wire-Tapping, and Stolen Elections Sabrina P. Ramet1 How successful or unsuccessful has Macedonia been since its declaration of independence in 1991? The question sounds simple enough. At first glance, one is inclined to say that it has been unusually unsuccessful, even by Balkan standards. The country has been blocked by Greece in its quest to join the European Union (EU) and NATO, was forced – again by Greece – to change its flag and modify its constitution to renounce territorial aspirations it never nurtured, and was admitted to the United Nations only under the humiliating name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – a designation which suggests to Macedonians that their state is a kind of pariah. Then there is the fact that 30.4 per cent of its people were living below the poverty line in 2011 (see the Introduction to this volume). Again, as noted in the Introduction, Macedonia’s ranking on press freedom in 2015 was the lowest among the seven Yugoslav successor states. And finally, there is the extent of corruption through which the ruling party has maintained itself in power since 2006 (detailed below in the subsection Allegations of Abuse of Power and in the section Political Transformation II below). 1 Except where otherwise noted, all internet sources cited herein were accessed during the period 4–7 November 2014. 1 On the other hand, Macedonia was successful in staying out of the War of Yugoslav Succession (1991–95) as well as the 1999 War for Kosovo, avoided being carved up between Greece and Serbia in 1992,2 and has been relatively successful in boosting revenue from tourism, earning 110 million euros from that sector in 2013.3 In addition, in 2001, an Albanian insurgency was successfully resolved with the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accords (discussed below).
    [Show full text]
  • Journal-Issue-1-Oct-2018.Pdf
    Published by MEMBER OF: P R E S S Issue 1 : October 2018 Board of Editors of Board Index INDEX International Journal Introduction 1-3 Dehumanization in the Novel of Socialist Realism Socialist Novelof Dehumanization the in 4-10 by Lirim Sulko,PhDLirim by Islamic Lexic and Terms in Bosnian Language 11-25 by Enver Ujkanović, PhD The Alternative and Traditional Methods by Josilda Papajani 26-40 Albanian Literary Circle in Italy 51-50 by Leka Ndoja Beyond the Known Dimensions of Edith Durham 51-58 by Majlinda Ziu1 Verbal Irony as a Communicative Mode of Persuasion by Zorica Trajkova and Silvana Neshkovska 59-77 Confession as a Form of Social Liberation and Seduction by Zorica Jelic 78-88 Developments and Theoretical Approaches on Public Diplomacy by Ngad hnjim Brovina , Phd 89-110 Political Systems and a Continuing Account for Elusive Peace in Republic of Macedonia by Hyreme Gurra 111-125 Teaching Politeness Strategies to Advanced References 126-136 Students in ESP Courses by Irina Petrovska The Motif of Motion in ‘Ulysses’, ‘Lolita’ and ‘On the Road’ by Sandra Sumonja 137-148 Creative Teaching Methods in English Language Teaching by Kamberi Spahiu, PhDc 149-171 Dehumanization in the Novel of Socialist Realism by Lirim Sulko,PhD Abstract Yuri Lotman affirms that the concept of the text is not absolute, but makes sense in a relationship with a historical, cultural and psychological structure that accompanies it. He considers every text "... determined by those socio-historical, national and psycho-anthropological reasons, which form the artistic models of life” So in a totalitarian regime, in other words dehumanized, the novel of socialist realism not only avoids the modern literary tendency, but manages to show dehumanization even in its formal-narrative aspect.
    [Show full text]
  • Macedonia by Jovan Bliznakovski
    Macedonia by Jovan Bliznakovski Capital: Skopje Population: 2.1 million GNI/capita, PPP: US$13,700 Source: World Bank World Development Indicators. Nations in Transit Ratings and Averaged Scores 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 National Democratic 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.75 5.00 Governance Electoral Process 3.25 3.50 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 Civil Society 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.25 3.25 Independent Media 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 4.75 5.00 5.00 5.25 5.25 Local Democratic 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 Governance Judicial Framework 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 and Independence Corruption 4.50 4.25 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 Democracy Score 3.86 3.86 3.79 3.82 3.89 3.93 4.00 4.07 4.29 4.43 NOTE: The ratings reflect the consensus of Freedom House, its academic advisers, and the author(s) of this report. If consensus cannot be reached, Freedom House is responsible for the final ratings. The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest.
    [Show full text]
  • Captured State Understanding the Macedonian Case
    MANCHO MITEVSKI ОБРЕЖАН ФОРМАТ: 140Х200MM | МАТ ЛАМИНАЦИЈА 1/0 ЛАМИНАЦИЈА 140Х200MM | МАТ ОБРЕЖАН ФОРМАТ: CAPTURED STATE UNDERSTANDING THE MACEDONIAN CASE Mancho Mitevski CAPTURED STATE UNDERSTANDING THE MACEDONIAN CASE Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Skopje Office www.fes-skopje.org Author: Mancho Mitevski Translated by: Tanja Maleska Cover design: Aleksandar Mitevski Designed and printed by: Kontura Print: 200 copies A commercial use of the media published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is not allowed without written approval by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The views expressed in this report are those from the author and do not necessarily represent opinions of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. CIP - Каталогизација во публикација Национална и универзитетска библиотека "Св. Климент Охридски", Скопје 321.64(497.7)"2006/2016" 304.4(497.7)"2006/2016" MITEVSKI, Mancho Captured state : Understanding the Macedonian case / Mancho Mitevski. - Skopje : Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Office Macedonia, 2018. - 331 стр. ; 25 см Biography: стр. 331 ISBN 978-9989-109-90-4 а) Македонија - Авторитарни политички системи - 2006-2016 б) Македонија - Општествено-политички прилики - 2006-2016 COBISS.MK-ID 109272842 CAPTURED STATE UNDERSTANDING THE MACEDONIAN CASE CONTENTS PREFACE 9 NOTE TO THE PUBLICATION OF “THE CAPTURE STATE” IN ENGLISH 11 FOREWORD 13 I. INTRODUCTION 25 A Return to the Logic of the Cold War 26 Macron’s Victory Put a Stop to the Retrograde Process 29 Putin is Rushing to Make Russia a Factor Again 32 Instead of a Fight against Establishments – a Swap of Establishments 34 Can Trump be the Undertaker of Anti-Globalists Trends? 37 Migrations of the Young People – For a Change of the Geography 42 A Captured State is Only Possible with an Authoritarian Regime and Absolute Power 47 II.
    [Show full text]
  • North Macedonia
    NORTH MACEDONIA AT A GLANCE CONTENTS EDUCATION Pre-school education 57 FOREWORD Primary education 59 AT A GLANCE Secondary education 60 The Republic 6 Higher education,research and innovation 62 Crests & Symbols 8 Demographics 10 SOCIETY Geography & Climate 12 Freedom of religion 66 Famous Macedonians 14 Civil society 69 The Legal And Political System 16 Migration 72 THE LEGAL AND THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE POLITICAL SYSTEM The public broadcaster (МRТ) 76 Private national terrestrial TV stations 77 The Constitution 18 Private national TV stations that 77 The Legislative Branch 20 Broadcast via satellite The Executive Branch 22 Private national TV stations that 78 Public Administration 25 Broadcast via operator of a public The Judicial Branch 26 Electronic communications network Regional TV stations 79 FOREIGN POLICY Local TV Stations 79 Radio stations 79 The “three Ilindens”: from the dream of 30 Print media 80 autonomy to challenged sovereignty Online media 80 The essence of “Great power” support 33 Regulation in the media sector 81 Long-lasting “Interim” solutions 34 Security and welfare umbrella 36 CULTURE AND WAY Threats - myths vs reality 36 Real and fake alternatives 38 OF LIFE The EU welfare dream 38 Macedonia: A country of rich cultural heritage 82 Internal market and beyond 39 Skopje earthquake 85 Who remains to be integrated? 40 Mother Theresa 85 Success is rather based on reforms 41 Matka Canyon 85 than on membership Main cultural institutions and events 86 Customs and traditions 87 BUSINESS AND ECONOMY Food 88 Wine 89 The legislative framework of doing 42 business in Macedonia Taxes 44 TOURISM The Macedonian economy 45 Ohrid: the city, the lake and the festival 90 The mountains 93 CLIMATE CHANGE AND Bitola and Krushevo 94 Kokino 95 ENVIRONMENT Climate change 46 SPORTS 98 Energy 49 Waste 50 PICTURE CREDITS 100 Air quality 52 REFERENCES 101 Water 53 IMPRINT 103 Biodiversity 54 GETTING AROUND 104 FOREWORD What are the main features of North Mace- Hence, our main target group is the interna- donia, its politics and society? How do the tional community.
    [Show full text]
  • The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
    DECLASSIFIED1 AS/Mon(2016)06 rev 27 May 2016 amondoc06rev_2016 Or. Engl. Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) Post-monitoring dialogue with "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" Information note by the co-rapporteurs on their fact-finding visit to Skopje, Tetovo and Gostivar (15-18 February 2016) Co-rapporteurs: Ms Lise Christoffersen, Norway, Socialist Group, and Mr Valeriu Ghiletchi, Republic of Moldova, Group of European People’s Party I. Introduction 1. In our capacity as the newly appointed PACE co-rapporteurs for the post-monitoring dialogue with “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”2, we paid a fact-finding visit to Skopje, Tetovo and Gostivar from 15 to 18 February 2016. In light of the latest political developments (see below), our visit mostly focused on the resolution of the on-going political crisis and the implementation of the June/July 2015 “Przino Agreement”,3 in particular electoral reforms and media laws. We also addressed recent developments in the field of human rights, the rule of law and democracy and the implementation of Resolution 1949 (2013) on The post- monitoring dialogue with "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and the state of progress concerning co-operation with the Council of Europe, further to Recommendation 2022 (2013). 2. During our visit we had the possibility to meet all the political stakeholders and leaders of the main political parties, including the Prime Minister Mr Dimitriev, the Speaker of the Assembly Mr Trajko Veljanoski, the President of the “Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity” (VRMO-DPMNE) (and former Prime Minister) Mr Gruevski, the President of “Social Democratic Union of Macedonia” (SDSM) Mr Zoran Zaev, representatives of the “Democratic Union for Integration” (DUI) and the “Democratic Party of Albanians” (DPA), and many parliamentarians.
    [Show full text]
  • Macedonia Ethno-Religious Conflict (1991-2016)
    Macedonia Ethno-Religious Conflict (1991-2016) Tome Vangelovski January 2017 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies Australian National University © Copyright by Tome Vangelovski 2017 All Rights Reserved ii Authorship Declaration I hereby declare and confirm that this thesis is entirely the result of my own work except where otherwise indicated and has not been submitted, either in part or in whole, for a higher degree or qualification at this or any other university or institute. This thesis totals 90,485 words (excluding footnotes and appendices). Tome Vangelovski January 2017 iii Acknowledgements I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to undertake my PhD studies at the Australian National University. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Professor Amin Saikal and Dr Kirill Nourzhanov for enabling this. Dr Nourzhanov has been an exceptional supervisor. His honesty, sincerity and, most importantly, his patience have allowed me to complete this work while balancing employment and raising a young family. Dr Nourzhanov’s guidance and intellectual rigour has provided me with immeasurable support. Professor Peter Hill and Dr Robert Miller, also on my supervisory panel, have been a great source of knowledge. Their understanding of the topic and their detailed advice has been invaluable. Thank you to all of those who provided me with extensive support and friendship during my fieldwork in Macedonia, including the interviewees who generously provided their time and knowledge. My thanks also goes to Carol Laslett, Leila Kouatly, Lissette Geronimo, Pamela Lourandos, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
    European Asylum Support Office EASO Country of Origin Information Report The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Country Focus November 2016 SUPPORT IS OUR MISSION European Asylum Support Office EASO Country of Origin Information Report The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia November 2016 Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Print ISBN: 978-92-9494-282-1 doi: 10.2847/538738 BZ-07-16-015-EN-C PDF ISBN: 978-92-9494-283-8 doi: 10.2847/71303 BZ-07-16-015-EN-N © European Asylum Support Office 2016 Neither EASO nor any person acting on its behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein. EASO COI REPORT FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA COUNTRY FOCUS - 5 Acknowledgments EASO would like to acknowledge Hungary, Office of Immigration & Nationality, COI unit as author of this report. The following departments reviewed this report: Slovak Republic, Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, Migration Office, Department of Documentation and Foreign Cooperation. The Netherlands, Immigration and Naturalisation Service, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis (OCILA). 6 — EASO COI REPORT FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: COUNTRY FOCUS Contents Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Foreign Authoritarian Influence in the Western Balkans
    Foreign Authoritarian Influence in the Western Balkans Political Capital is an independent policy research, analysis and consulting institute founded in 2001 in Budapest. Our institute owes no allegiance to any government or political body. We have developed an extended network of professional partners, both domestically and internationally, all of whom have helped our institute to become one of the most influential think tanks in Central and East Europe. We are committed to the guiding principles of parliamentary democracy, market economy, human rights and Euro-Atlanticism. With the creation of analytical content, quantitative and qualitative policy research, and organizing substantial debates, we want to • promote critical political thinking and increase understanding for politics, • raise awareness about political issues that have an impact on citizen’s everyday life even if indirectly, and • contribute to and develop a critical public discourse and policy making that is based on knowledge and evidence. Authors: Anida Šabanović, Mahir Sijamija, Haris Ćutahija, Milena Gvozdenović, Marko Pankovski, Dorka Takácsy, Dominik Istrate, Veronika Víchová. With the support of: National Endowment for Democracy In partnership with: Foreign Policy Initiative BH (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Center for Democratic Transition (Montenegro), Institute for Democracy „Societas Civilis” (North Macedonia), Political Capital (Hungary), European Values (Czech Republic) © Copyright 2020 Political Capital Kft. 2 Contents Introduction 4 Executive summary 5 Structure and methodology 7 Exposure, political attitudes and receptivity 7 Country assessments in 5 categories 7 Country reports 14 Bosnia and Herzegovina 14 Exposure, political attitudes and receptivity 14 1. Churches in politics and public life: Religious soft power and material influence 16 2. Political influence- symbolic politics 18 3.
    [Show full text]