About

In 2001 tensions escalated in North Macedonia into an armed conflict, beginning near Tetovo and later spreading toward Skopje and Kumanovo, causing over 200 deaths and mass  displacement. Explanations differ: some stress regional spillover and border dynamics after the 1999 Kosovo war, while others emphasise domestic exclusion of Albanians in language, education, policing, employment, and political participation.
The Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) introduced non-discrimination, proportional representation, language rights, decentralisation, and double-majority decision-making. Implementation, however, remained uneven, while transitional justice largely narrowed to the 2002 Amnesty Law, leaving accountability contested. Over time, “ethnizenship” normalised ethnicised politics and polarised OFA perceptions. Using the 25th OFA anniversary, this event will assess achievements and gaps, examine how memory and institutions reproduce division, and develop recommendations to strengthen credibility, address grievances, and rebuild trust.
Objective of the exchange is to update a German audience, the diaspora community, and interested Western Balkans experts on the situation in North Macedonia 25 years after the violent conflict in 2001, with a focus on themes of dealing with the past and transitional 
justice.

If you would like to attend on site, please register in advance by contacting Carla Cingil (University of Duisburg-Essen) via email at carla.cingil@stud.uni-due.de.

Participants who wish to join online are kindly asked to register using the following link: https://uni-due.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/jSExXZtWTGuzVieWObFdZQ