NOTE ON TERMINOLOGYIn this report, the spelling of the name “Kosovo” is used (rather than“Kosova,” the spelling preferred by Albanians, or “Kosovo and Metohija”or “Kosmet” preferred by Serbs) because that is the spelling mostcomm<strong>on</strong>ly used in the English-speaking world. For the same reas<strong>on</strong>“Pristina” is favored over “Prishtina,” etc. Except as otherwise noted, theterm “Albanian” is used to refer to ethnic Albanians living in <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>.From left to right: Iljaz Halimi and Basri Haliti.From left to right: Abdyladi Vejseli and Vesna Janevska.INTRODUCTIONThe December 2005 Mavrovo roundtable came at a historic moment for<str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>. Having received a positive evaluati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g> fromthe European Commissi<strong>on</strong> in November, the EU’s Council of Ministerswas set to grant the country EU candidate status—a major milest<strong>on</strong>e fora state still dealing with the c<strong>on</strong>sequences of a violent ethnic c<strong>on</strong>flict in2001. However, <strong>on</strong> December 12, the day before the beginning of theMavrovo talks, the news from Brussels was that the Council, troubled bysuch setbacks as the recent French and Dutch popular rejecti<strong>on</strong> of a newEuropean c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> and the c<strong>on</strong>tinuing stalemate in budget negotiati<strong>on</strong>s,might vote to delay a decisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>’s candidacy until thenext EU Presidency. This potential uncertainty over the country’s EUprospects sent shockwaves through <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>’s political scene.While the potential for a delay in <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>’s EU candidacy dominatedmuch of the discussi<strong>on</strong> at Mavrovo, other questi<strong>on</strong>s, such as the upcoming<str<strong>on</strong>g>2006</str<strong>on</strong>g> parliamentary electi<strong>on</strong>s and the implementati<strong>on</strong> of certainreforms related to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, were also significanttopics of discussi<strong>on</strong>. Even these issues were seen by many participants ashighly c<strong>on</strong>nected to the developments in Brussels, however, and<str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>’s EU candidacy returned time and again in the discussi<strong>on</strong>s asthe dominant outside factor shaping the country’s immediate future.This Mavrovo roundtable, the sixth since the series began in 2003, wascharacterized by a high degree of c<strong>on</strong>sensus. No participant disputedthat European integrati<strong>on</strong> should be <strong>on</strong>e of the state’s top priorities; tothe c<strong>on</strong>trary, some oppositi<strong>on</strong> leaders claimed that their parties, ratherthan the current government, should in fact be credited with paving theway to the country’s expected EU candidacy. The questi<strong>on</strong> of electi<strong>on</strong>irregularities was also an important agenda item <strong>on</strong> which there wasbroad agreement, with many participants supporting tougher penaltiesfor violators, as well as reforms to the electi<strong>on</strong> law and the makeup of theelecti<strong>on</strong> commissi<strong>on</strong> to improve the quality of the campaigns and thevoting process itself.Interethnic issues, which had dominated previous Mavrovo roundtables,were less prominent during the December talks. During the discussi<strong>on</strong>am<strong>on</strong>g the coaliti<strong>on</strong> parties, leaders of an ethnic <str<strong>on</strong>g>Maced<strong>on</strong>ia</str<strong>on</strong>g>n party,c<strong>on</strong>cerned by their party’s low ratings in recent polls, argued that theirethnic Albanian coaliti<strong>on</strong> partner should make more of an effort to45