MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN MACEDONIA: CONSTITUTIONAL AND OTHER LEGAL REGULATIONS
MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN MACEDONIA: CONSTITUTIONAL AND OTHER LEGAL REGULATIONS

Author(s): Svetomir Škarić
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Sociology, Ethnic Minorities Studies
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: community; collective rights; ethnicity; ethnocentrism; asymmetric model; multiculturalism; assimilation; dual majority vote; equity; proportionality; binational state
Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the status of minority communities in general and, in the form of a case study, it discusses their position in Macedonia. Minority communities are observed as a phenomenon present in almost all countries in the world. They have a great potential for expansion in the times to come. These are ethnicities that seek out space for affirmation and the establishment of new states, as protectors of their rights. In this tense context, Macedonia, as a multiethnic state, is building a multi-levelled model of multiculturalism in which mutual relations are asymmetric. The first level is occupied by the Albanian minority, which makes 20% of the country’s total population. The second level belongs to the minority communities mentioned in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, whereas the third level is occupied by the communities not mentioned in the text of the Constitution. The position of the communities at the third level is the most difficult: they are exposed to assimilation by the first- and second-level communities. In practice, under the pressure of the majority population, the multilevel division naturally evolves into a two-level model, with the Macedonian community on one side and the Albanian community on the other – the two largest communities in the country.

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