Two and a half decades after Ohrid Accord, North Macedonia still seeks true reconciliation

Twenty-five years after the 2001 conflict ended with the Ohrid Framework Agreement, North Macedonia remains peaceful but analysts say full ethnic reconciliation is still missing.

The six-month conflict of 2001, which left 72 security personnel dead and displaced more than 170,000 people, concluded with the NATO-mediated Ohrid Framework Agreement that introduced extensive power-sharing mechanisms. While the ceasefire has held for a quarter of a century, ethnic Macedonians and Albanians still grapple with unresolved grievances. The return of the VMRO-DPMNE party to government two years ago pushed the Democratic Union for Integration into opposition, prompting former NLA commander Ali Ahmeti to claim that Albanian language use and minority representation are being eroded.

Bujar Osmani, a senior DUI official, argues that the real challenge is preventing the dismantling of the institutional balance that has kept the country stable. Both Macedonian and Albanian officials accuse each other of bias in public-sector hiring and of weakening protections for minorities. Analysts such as Harald Schenker warn that the agreement reshaped institutions but failed to foster genuine reconciliation, and the prolonged EU accession deadlock has intensified identity-based disputes. The upcoming 35th anniversary of independence underscores the need for open dialogue to avoid a gradual loss of confidence among the communities.