Next Steps: Macedonia on the Road to Democratic Reform, NATO and EU Membership

To RSVP or if you have any questions, please contact John Alexander at +1 202 683 2608 or [email protected].

Discussants

• Bujar Osmani, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, Government of the Republic of Macedonia
• Evelyn Farkas, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Jonathan D. Katz, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Moderator

• Zhikica (Zach) Pagovski, Program Officer, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Please join us for a timely conversation with Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs Bujar Osmani, Jonathan Katz and Evelyn Farkas of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) to discuss the current political situation in Macedonia, progress in implementation of the Prespa Agreement, and the diplomatic resolution of the name dispute with Greece — a critical step on the path to Macedonia’s Euroatlantic future.

On January 25, 2019, the Greek Parliament voted to ratify the Prespa agreement, which is critical to ending the 28-year-old dispute. With this development, Greece completed the first of the two crucial steps in fully implementing the Prespa Agreement, after the Government of Macedonia was able to secure constitutional changes of its name to “North Macedonia.”

The upcoming discussion at GMF will focus on the prospects and next steps for full membership in NATO in 2019 and next steps to accelerate accession talks with the EU. Speakers will provide insights on Macedonia’s path towards key democratic reforms that are required to join those two organizations, and they will discuss the role of the U.S. in this process. Finally, they will explore what the impact of the implementation of the Prespa Agreement will be on the Western Balkans and on other nations seeking further integration with the EU and NATO.