The Primordialisation of Ethnic Nationalism in Macedonia

Abstract

After the Greek veto on Macedonia’s NATO accession in 2008, the Macedonian government launched comprehensive policies to reconstruct the Macedonian ethno-national narrative as stretching back to ancient Macedonia. The ‘Skopje 2014’ project, which was a large-scale reconstruction of the capital city in neoclassical and baroque styles, as well as new educational and mass media campaigns claiming the continuous existence of the Macedonian nation since antiquity, were the cornerstones of the Gruevski government’s project. The so-called ‘antiquisation’ programme was both a domestic and international assertion of Macedonia’s name, identity and history amid Greek challenges and attempts to undermine Macedonia’s legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. The Skopje 2014 project increased tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia, and also deepened divisions among Macedonians.