Macedonia’s political crisis: make or break for civil society

Macedonia has experienced a period of civic unrest following a pardon issued by president Gjorge Ivanov to all the political figures incriminated in a wiretapping scandal that emerged in 2015. Misha Popovikj states that while the immediate cause of the unrest is relatively straightforward, the roots of the discontent are far more complex. He argues that it is not yet time to resume EU-brokered negotiations, and that international actors should take advantage of a golden moment to empower the country’s civil society actors.