Referendum in Macedonia 2018
On the 30th September 2018 in place of Macedonia , a referendum held; The voters were asked whether they were in favor of membership in the European Union and NATO under the acceptance of the agreement signed on June 17th (which provided for a renaming to "Republic of North Macedonia") between the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia. The vote was consultative and not binding because the constitutional amendment necessary for the renaming could only be passed by parliament. The vast majority of participants voted for the name change; however, since the turnout was only 36.91%, the referendum was formally invalid.
With a two-thirds majority in parliament, the members of the government majority under Prime Minister Zoran Zaev ( SDSM ) voted on October 19, 2018 for a constitutional amendment and the change of the state name in North Macedonia .
prehistory
_(42853677381).jpg)
The Republic of Macedonia was one of the successor republics of the former Yugoslavia . After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989–1991, the long suppressed aspirations for autonomy in the multi-ethnic state of Yugoslavia also revived. Ultimately, all the republics of the federal state of Yugoslavia gradually declared their independence, including Macedonia on September 8, 1991 after a referendum in which the residents of the Yugoslav republic voted for independence with a 91 percent majority. As a state name, the new republic chose the name Republic of Macedonia ( Macedonian Република Македонија ). However, this encountered resistance from the beginning of its southern neighbor Greece, who wanted to have reserved the name "Macedonia" for the northern Greek region of Macedonia ( Greek Μακεδονία ) and who assumed that the Republic of Macedonia implicitly asserted territorial claims on Greek territory. In this name dispute, both sides went back deep into history and each claimed to be in the historical succession of ancient Macedonia . For example, Macedonia temporarily named the airport in the capital Skopje after Alexander the Great .
For the Republic of Macedonia, the name dispute had a very negative effect on foreign policy, as the EU and NATO member Greece blocked all attempts by Macedonia to approach the EU with its veto. For example, while the neighboring country Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007 as part of the south- east enlargement of the European Union , Macedonia's efforts in this direction made no progress.
After many years of negotiations, an agreement was reached on June 12, 2018 between the heads of government of both countries, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras , according to which the Republic of Macedonia should change its previous state name to Република Северна Македонија / Republika Severna Makedonija (German Republic of North Macedonia ). In return, the Greek government assured that Greece would no longer block Macedonia's efforts to join the EU and NATO. The Macedonian government announced that it would hold a referendum on the name change. Macedonia's EU accession negotiations could then begin in June 2019 in parallel to those with Albania, following an official EU statement.
Conflicts in Macedonia before the referendum
On June 20, 2018, the Macedonian Parliament ratified the name change agreement. The vote was boycotted by 51 opposition MPs in the 120-member parliament. On June 26, 2018, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov , who is close to the opposition, declared that he would not sign the agreement and described the agreement as a “criminal act against the constitution”. The presidential veto was not given great political weight, as it could be lifted by the parliament with a simple majority according to the constitution. A government spokesman said that the president's refusal was expected, and Prime Minister Zaev threatened the president with impeachment for his stance on the blockade. On July 5, 2018, the Macedonian parliament ratified the agreement signed by Zaev and Tsipras for the second time with 69 of the 120 members, thereby overriding the presidential veto. The MPs from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE did not take part in the vote and one MP abstained. The opposition VMRO DPMNE tried to block the referendum in various ways or made its approval subject to conditions. The ruling parties speculated that the opposition wanted the government to obtain an amnesty for the ringleaders for the attack on parliament during the riots on April 27, 2017. More than 100 people were injured at the time, including many journalists, parliamentarians and the current Prime Minister Zaev. There were many VMRO DPMNE supporters among the rioters at the time. The government tried to hold talks with the opposition to break their blockade, which after difficult negotiations led to the opposition finally agreeing to hold the referendum.
In the election campaign before the referendum, Prime Minister Zaev campaigned for approval. With the agreement, Macedonia “gained another friend and strategic partner [Greece]” and “opened the gates to the EU and NATO”. The party leader of the conservative opposition, Hristijan Mickoski , urged the citizens to act according to their own convictions or to vote or not, whereby his party did not take a clear position. On the day of the referendum, Mickoski announced that he would not vote. Ultimately, the opposition suggested that its supporters abstain from voting without openly calling for an election boycott.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, numerous Western politicians visited Macedonia to express their support for a yes vote in the referendum. Among them were the EU Foreign Representative Federica Mogherini , NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg , the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel .
The electoral law stipulated that voting documents in municipalities with more than 20 percent Albanian-speaking population should also be made available in Albanian.
Question of the referendum
The question asked in the referendum was:
"Дали сте за членство во ЕУ и НАТО со прифаќање на Договорот помеѓу Република Македоника Македоника и Реа ублика и Реап?"
"Are you in favor of membership in the EU and NATO by accepting the agreement between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece?"
voter turnout
A potentially too low turnout was seen as a major problem even before the vote, since a turnout of over 50% was required for the referendum to be valid. Even with a positive outcome of the referendum, parliament still had to approve the constitutional amendment required for the name change with a two-thirds majority . In the event of a majority rejection or insufficient voter turnout, a new vote could be held at the earliest in two years. The polling stations were open from 7 am to 7 pm.
| 9:00 o'clock | 11:00 o'clock | 13:00 'O clock | 3:00 p.m. | 17:00 o'clock | 6:30 p.m. | 7:00 p.m. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.56% | 8.10% | 15.64% | 22.65% | 28.95% | 34.76% | 36.91% |
Result
The vast majority of those who voted voted in favor of the agreement, but the turnout was only 36.91%, which meant that the referendum was not successful for formal reasons.
| number | percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Registered voters | 1,806,336 | 100.00% |
| Voters | 666.743 | 36.91% |
| Invalid ballot | 19,221 | 2.88% |
| Valid votes | 647,513 | 97.12% |
| Yes votes | 609.813 | 94.18% |
| Vote no | 37,700 | 5.82% |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Macedonian Parliament initiates change of state name. (No longer available online.) In: Donaukurier . October 20, 2018, archived from the original on October 20, 2018 ; accessed on October 20, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Slav Okov, Elizabeth Konstantinova: Republic of Macedonia President Attempts to Block Name Deal. bloomberg.com, June 26, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Macedonia's parliament ratifies name agreement with Greece. reuters.com, June 20, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Macedonian president refuses to sign 'criminal' law to change country's name. reuters.com, June 26, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Macedonia's parliament Endorses name deal with Greece for second time. reuters.com, July 5, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Macedonia Opposition Puts 'Name' Referendum at Risk. BalkanInsight, July 10, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Sinisa Jakov Marusic: Macedonia Referendum Talks End in Shambles. BalkanInsight, July 23, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Jakov Marusic: Macedonia Opposition Ends Blockade of 'Name' Referendum. BalkanInsight, July 23, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Macedonia's head of the opposition boycotted the referendum on names. der Standard, September 30, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Konstantin Testorides: Western leaders line up to visit Macedonia before referendum. newstalk999.com, September 12, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 .
- ^ Elections in Macedonia: 2018 referendum. (PDF) International Foundation fo Electoral Systems, accessed on September 30, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Изгласана одлука за референдум за името на 30 септември. kanal5.mk, July 18, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 (Macedonian).
- ↑ Turnout. Retrieved September 30, 2018 (English, Macedonian, Albanian, Romanian, Serbian).
- ↑ Results. (No longer available online.) Macedonia Electoral Commission, archived from the original on September 30, 2018 ; Retrieved October 1, 2018 (English, Macedonian, Albanian, Romanian, Serbian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
