KOSOVO AND NORTHERN MACEDONIA: LOCAL ELECTIONS ARE NOT THE LOCAL-SCALE ISSUES

The topic of the article is the 2021 elections to the municipal bodies of Kosovo and Northern Macedonia. Although usually of little attention, in the present case they went beyond local importance calling into question the stability of the governments. Backing from the protest vote the ruling parties in both states were dependent upon turned out to have had a limited shelf life during the socio-economic crisis caused by the pandemic, which their long-time opponents have effectively used. This even prejudged the extremely negative outcome for those who are currently at the helm. In neighboring Bulgaria, too, the strength of the new government began to cause increasing doubts due to discrepancies between the president and the prime minister, seemingly political associates. The enhanced cooperation between Sofia and Skopje has raised hopes for an early compromise in their long-standing dispute related to the problems of Macedonian identity, language and their common history. However, this development runs the risks of becoming a hostage or a victim of internal political strife in neighboring countries. In such a case Brussels and Washington that have urgently pressed for the lifting of the Bulgarian veto on the start of talks for accession of North Macedonia to the EU, will once again find themselves in the unenviable position of «the tail wagging the dog!».