INTEGRATION AND STABILITY: CASE OF NORTH MACEDONIA

European integration has been recognized as a key strategy for achieving the objective of stability and development in the Western Balkans. This reputation has been accomplished thanks to the European involvement in southeast Europe, sometimes specifically with individual countries alone and in other cases involving simultaneously more countries by introducing various regional projects and other affiliated programs that have created positive effects, long-term stability management and prevention of misperceptions between countries and ethnic groups. European institutions within the programs and strategies for the dissemination of core values have identified the prospects of membership in the European Union as the most affordable option for long-term growth and prosperity of the region. These views are shared by many politicians and citizens of the region who upon being given access to European political and economic institutions have come to realize that European Integration is the long-term response to fragmentation, conflict and economic backwardness. Within this perspective, the analysis of this paper is focused in the case of North Macedonia. The involvement of European Union in stabilizing Macedonia has been multidimensional but most crucially through active diplomatic involvement by facilitating the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the subsequent signing of Stabilization and Association Agreement. In 2003 Macedonia was able to apply for EU membership, which meant free access to European markets and aid funds needed to carry out institutional reforms. This article initially provides theoretical background on what integration refers to, examines the political discourse in the Macedonian society and how it is reflected on the institutional reforms that needed to be adopted as precondition in its path to European integration.