A Critical Perspective on the Prespa Agreement: On the Collateral Damage

The Prespa agreement, which allegedly resolved one of the longest and the most curious disputes between states - i.e. the so-called name dispute between Athens and Skopje - has been met by admiration both by the political and the intellectual public. The critical voices very quickly silenced and branded as backward and nationalists. This study aims at a critical analysis of the entire Prespa process, including the text of the Agreement and the process of its ratification and implementation, from a perspective of the loss of the democratic compass and weakening of the state. The key hypothesis is that the resolution of the dispute, which was motivated and inspired by geopolitical goals, inflicted serious collateral damage on the already weak Macedonian state and society. While one obstacle to full membership to NATO has been removed, the country faces the serious democratic deficit, internal instability and undermining of the rule of law principle. The outcome of the Prespa process reached through a mockery of direct democracy (ie. the referendum) and travesty of law evident during the constitutional review process, push the Macedonian society further away from the desired EU integration despite the politicians’ promise of the opposite.