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In early July, the Max van der Stoel Foundation together with the Progres Institute organised the annual Summer School on Lake Ohrid in northern Macedonia. The 17th edition of this event was dedicated to recruiting a new generation of young political talent inside northern Macedonia. This is vital as a new chapter awaits the country's social democrats and new recruitment is important.
Elections
Elections took place in northern Macedonia in spring. In both the presidential and parliamentary elections in April and May, the centre-left ruling party SDSM suffered major blows. In both elections, the party was trounced by a large distance by the nationalist-right VMRO-DPMNE, which is expected to take a tougher course towards neighbouring Bulgaria and Greece.
Greece and Bulgaria demand adjustments from northern Macedonia in terms of names, culture and language on historical grounds. As recently as 2018, northern Macedonia concluded the Prespa agreement with southern neighbour Greece, adopting the new name instead of 'Macedonia'. At the inauguration of new president Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, she already spoke provocatively about 'Macedonia', after which the Greek ambassador walked away demonstratively. These processes will not bring northern Macedonia closer to the European Union, a process it has been trying to accomplish for more than two decades.
A leadership change has since taken place within SDSM. In a vote in late June, Venko Filipche was elected as the party's new leader, succeeding Dimitar Kovacevski. Filipche is seen as an ally of the party's popular former leader Zoran Zaev. He was also previously health minister in Zaev's cabinet.
A packed auditorium during one of the training sessions at the Summer School in Ohrid, northern Macedonia (July 2024)
New generation
So the Summer School that the FMS organises annually with the Progres Institute came at a special time. There is a lot of up-and-coming political talent in northern Macedonia and with the Summer School, they get the chance to strengthen certain qualities around organisational development, leadership and communication. The motivation, ideation and qualities of a new generation are important to develop a progressive vision towards EU integration and broad prosperity in the country. To support these young political talents in this, FMS will continue to cooperate in North Macedonia in the coming years.
