Macedonia's Ethnic and Political Tensions

Macedonia's minority ethnic Albanian political party threatened Aug. 27 to abandon the government coalition in protest of a law it believes benefits the ethnically Macedonian military. This threat shows how both members of Macedonia's ruling coalition have resorted to nationalism to maintain popular support as the Macedonian economy slows down. In recent weeks, the relationship between the party representing ethnic Macedonians and the party representing ethnic Albanians has deteriorated due to this use of nationalism to win support before local elections in March. As a result, Macedonia is now heading toward political paralysis, which will affect its domestic and foreign policy goals.