ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 3, No. 4 (MK) January 2018 Macedonia External Relations briefing: Macedonia’s Foreign Policy in 2018 Anastas Vangeli 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft.
[email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu Macedonia’s Foreign Policy in 2018 In its first year in power, the government of SDSM has been unexpectedly pro-active in foreign affairs. One of the central political narratives deployed by the new government has been the mission to restore Macedonia’s international reputation, and to bring Macedonia back on the path of the double integration in the EU and NATO. These objectives have been described not only as strategic orientations, but urgent for the survival and success of Macedonia as a country. Hence, the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Dimitrov (an experienced diplomat formerly of VMRO-DPMNE) have had an intense foreign policy agenda, with frequent meetings with their counterparts from abroad, which have dominated the news cycle in the country. Other officials, such as the Minister of Defense Radmila Shekerinska have had a pronounced diplomatic activity as well. Some of the more notable developments in this period have also happened in the domain of foreign affairs – such as the agreement on good neighborly relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia. Overall, the Macedonian government has tried to project a “cooperative” image on the international stage, which has been generally welcomed by the West. The trend of pro-active Macedonian diplomacy is expected to continue, and perhaps even intensify in 2018, especially with regards to the name dispute.