The Ohrid Framework Agreement ( mk, Охридски рамковен договор, Ohridski ramkoven dogovor) was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia (now
North Macedonia) and representatives of the
Albanian minority on 13 August 2001. The agreement was signed by the country's four political parties after international mediators demanded their commitment to its ratification and implementation within a four-year period.
Provisions
The Ohrid Agreement created a framework for North Macedonia as a civic state, ending the
armed conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
between the
National Liberation Army and the
security forces of Macedonia. It established basic principles of the state such as cessation of hostilities, voluntary disarmament of ethnic Albanian armed groups, government devolution, and the reform of minority political and cultural rights.
The Agreement also included provisions for altering the official
languages of the country, with any language spoken by more than 20% of the population becoming co-official with the
Macedonian language at the
municipal level.
Only the
Albanian language
Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is gen ...
, with an approximate 25% of the population being speakers, currently qualifies as a co-official language under this criterion.
The Agreement is an example of the adoption of
consociationalism
Consociationalism ( ) is a form of democratic power sharing. Political scientists define a consociational state as one which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, but which remains stable due to consultation a ...
.
According to the document, the English-language version is the only authentic version of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. The
Government of Macedonia had to adapt the
Constitution of Macedonia in order to provide the
Albanian minority living in Macedonia with fifteen basic rights. The lead negotiator, on the behalf of the
European Union, was
François Léotard
François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother.
Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of th ...
.
James W. Pardew represented the
United States.
Notes
External links
Ohrid Framework Agreement Authoritative English Texthosted via
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Ohrid Framework Agreement Text in MacedonianOhrid Framework Agreement Text in AlbanianFlorian Bieber et al., ''Power Sharing and the Implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement'' Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Office Macedonia, Skopje, 2008.
Marija Risteska and Zhidas Daskalovski (eds), ''One decade after the Ohrid Framework Agreement: Lessons (to be) learned from the Macedonian experience'' Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Center for research and policy making, 2011.
Blerim Reka (ed.), ''Ten years from the Ohrid Framework Agreement'' South East European University, Tetovo, 2011.
2001 insurgency in Macedonia
Linguistic rights
Minority rights
Power sharing
Treaties of North Macedonia
Treaties concluded in 2001
Treaties entered into force in 2001
Peace treaties
Ohrid
August 2001 events in Europe
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