Abdylmenaf Bexheti, a veteran economist, academic and former minister, has warned that key achievements of North Macedonia’s 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement risk being rolled back, citing political maneuvering that could destabilize the country’s fragile ethnic balance.
In an extended interview for the portal KDP.mk, Bexheti – who is an Academician, Rector of South East European University until recently, and a member of both the Macedonian and Kosovo academies – said that “from the Albanian language, to the double-majority voting mechanism, adequate representation in public administration and decentralisation – too much is being put into question today.”
“The epilogue of the Ohrid Agreement is well known, but unfortunately we see a dangerous trend of political bickering (‘cic-mic’) undermining its foundations,” Bexheti told KDP.mk.
Long career in academia and politics
Bexheti, 66, has spent more than three decades shaping debates on public finance and political economy. A full professor of macroeconomics and public finance, he has authored six solo books, co-authored several others, and published more than 130 research papers. He has also been a prolific columnist, with over 250 opinion pieces in regional newspapers.
He served as Minister for Development and later Minister for Transport and Communications between 1996 and 1998. Since 2018, he has headed South East European University, while also sitting on the supervisory board of NLB Bank in Prishtina and, since 2023, serving as a member of North Macedonia’s Fiscal Council, appointed by parliament.
“Almost no major macroeconomic or financial issue of the country has gone without my analysis,” Bexheti said, recalling how his early 1990s research warned against the “ethnically discriminatory” privatization of socially owned enterprises that excluded Albanians.
Looking back at the turbulent years of Yugoslavia’s collapse, Bexheti pointed to three major discriminatory actions against Albanians in North Macedonia: exclusion from privatization, centralisation of municipal powers, and restricted access to public sector jobs and higher education.
He said Albanians were locked out of acquiring shares under the Ante Marković privatization law of 1989, since they represented less than 5% of the workforce in state enterprises. Later legislation in 1994 reinforced this exclusion by granting shares primarily to enterprise managers – positions almost exclusively held by Macedonians.
“Unfortunately, even Albanian ministers at the time had no real power to stop this,” he said. “The consequences are still visible today.”
Centralisation, he added, stripped Albanian-majority municipalities such as Tetovo, Gostivar and Debar of fiscal autonomy, undermining local economic development.
Slow EU convergence and governance failures
Despite three decades of reforms, North Macedonia’s economy remains stuck at under 40% of the EU average income, Bexheti said.
“Average annual growth of about 2% leaves us in the same place,” he noted. “We draft strategies and laws, but little changes in people’s lives.”
He grouped the country’s main challenges into five categories: governance and rule of law, EU integration, economic structure, fiscal sustainability, and environment and energy transition. Weak institutions, corruption, a fragile budget overly reliant on indirect taxes, heavy public debt, and a slow green transition all weigh on prospects, he said.
“The key problem is the human factor – the absence of responsible political leadership. In some aspects we are regressing, especially on integrity and values,” he added.
Bexheti acknowledged that his sharp critiques have sometimes provoked backlash, particularly from Macedonian colleagues. At a 2006 conference at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, his claim that Albanian migration remittances kept the economy afloat sparked heated exchanges.
“After I asked how the country could sustain a €2 billion trade deficit with only €200 million in foreign investment – if not through remittances – the hall fell silent,” he recalled.
He said such confrontations ultimately paved the way for his own election to the Academy in 2012.
Reflecting on his seven-year term as Rector, Bexheti pointed to tangible results: student numbers up by 30% despite demographic decline, salaries raised 40% with proportionally higher increases for lower earners, two new faculties established, and over €1.5 million invested in IT and infrastructure.
“Facts speak louder than words,” he said. “We doubled the university’s financial reserves, expanded programmes from social sciences to technical and health sciences, and maintained tuition fees unchanged for 24 years.”
On politics and the future
A former party leader, Bexheti says he has turned down multiple offers to return to frontline politics.
“Since 2006 I have not considered any political offer, even for top executive posts. It is time for new generations – but with integrity and responsibility,” he said.
He remains active in academia, the Fiscal Council, and the supervisory board of NLB Bank Kosovo.
“I always had two or three parallel commitments, but with systematic work, professionalism and integrity, I never had time for ‘other people’s business’ – I had too much of my own,” he said.