Although being spared the inter-ethnic violence following the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the North Macedonia´s socioeconomic and political development has been hindered by decades of political turmoil. It included an ethnic-Albanian uprising in the beginning of the 2000s; a dispute over the country´s name with Greece, and years of authoritarian rule filled with suspicions of corruption. The country´s path took a different turn after 2017, following massive popular protest and a six-month political stalemate, when a new coalition government was formed, led by former opposition leaders. A set of reforms was launched, and in 2018, an agreement was reached with Greece on a new name – the Republic of North Macedonia.
North Macedonia was granted the EU candidate status in December 2005, but opening of the accession negotiations had later been made conditional to implementation of the “Urgent Reform Priorities”. In light of the progress achieved, the path towards opening accession was unblocked in 2018. The EU integration outlook will depend on progress being made in key areas, such as the judiciary, fight against corruption and organised crime, intelligence services and public administration, including managing public resources.