1 Our entire country is a representative sample that could be used for a case study in declining jurisdiction. We could travel the world, offering training sessions to other governments on mastering the art of how not to be the competent authority.

The latest practical example is the case of the retaining wall in the neighbourhood of Vodno, above the Children’s Clinic in Skopje. The wall began to deteriorate in 2019 and is now collapsing. The directors of the Clinic started panicking five years ago, Stojanche Angelov from the Crisis Management Centre is panicking now, but no one seems to be the competent authority. The Municipality of Centar claims that the City of Skopje is the competent authority, the City of Skopje claims the wall falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Health claims that the wall and the street above it are definitely not under the jurisdiction of the health authorities. After five years of shuffling responsibilities back and forth, we’ve come full circle.

Oh, if only there were an inspection that could shut down the entire country. But even such inspection would have to be carried out by a foreign entity because if it was one of ours that one too would decline jurisdiction.

The wall in question supports a street in the centre of the capital and poses risks to traffic, parking areas, and even the entire Children’s Clinic, yet the local authorities, who are elected and paid by the citizens, say: “We are not the competent authority for that.” “Solving problems is not our job.” “We mustn’t interfere there.”

What happens when you decline jurisdiction? Will the wall miraculously stop collapsing? Or – I’m not the competent authority, I don’t give a damn. No jurisdiction, no problem, right?

It’s a no-brainer that the wall falls under the jurisdiction of the local authorities. That wall is not a retaining wall meant to support the mountain. It’s a dilapidated concrete barrier between the street and the Clinical Centre. The same authorities who charged utilities for the construction of all those towering buildings that have besieged Vodno are the ones who need to fix the wall. If they were greedy to make money from selling land lots, then they should pay the bill for this and protect the hospital from landslides. But, no, they can’t resist saying they’re not the competent authority. This way, there’s more money left in the budget for party employments. And for another pre-selected winner of a tender. It’s all about making sure there’s more for them.

However, that’s another topic. In any case, another institution would have to debate on that matter and eventually decline jurisdiction as well.

Now that the majority in the Assembly has increased the number of ministers, they could have easily fast-tracked even a Ministry of Declining Jurisdiction. A ministry with a minister and a Deputy Prime Minister who’d lead the body for interdepartmental coordination of incompetence across all ministries and state and municipal institutions.

2 If, during one of their coordination meetings, even the Crisis Management Centre fails to determine who the competent authority is to prevent a landslide from damaging the largest children’s hospital in the country, in the middle of the capital, the next logical step would be to convene a peace conference. The objective of that peace conference would be to establish a long-term truce among the mayor of Skopje, Danela Arsovska, and the municipal mayors, journalists, NGOs, construction engineers, architects, deans and citizens.

The real challenge will be to figure out how to contact her. It’s easier to establish communication with aliens than with the mayor of Skopje. Martians would exchange information faster than the departments and directors of the City of Skopje. And Martians wouldn’t even waste our money.

The ideal president for the peace conference would be Talat Xhaferi. When I think of an individual with a diplomatic, level-headed personality who would be a match for the mayor of Skopje, he’s the only one who comes to mind. If needed, he could even recite poetry to her. Holding two offices at the same time is a breeze for him, he’s both a Prime Minister and an MP, so he could easily take on a third role as – President of the Peace Conference regarding the wall. The conference would naturally address the safety concerns related to the Belasica bridge, the progress on the construction of the sewage treatment plant, the money allocated for rapid transport, the Universal Hall, the interchange at Momin Potok and various other issues like regular grass mowing and collection. The city government declines jurisdiction for all these matters.

The conclusion of said peace conference should be the agreement of the warring parties for a special fund to be established, a fund aimed at repairing the damage caused by declining jurisdiction as a mindset. Just as the Americans came up with the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the Second World War, just as they’re now making conferences to rebuild Ukraine, they’ll now have to devise a Marshall Plan to rebuild the disintegrated Skopje.

3 We can’t afford not to be guided by the idea of joining the EU. However, the fact that the Prespa Agreement is problematic six years after its signing is not Macedonia’s fault. Nor is Greece to blame. Both countries managed to resolve a diplomatic dispute that had lasted for 30 years in the heart of Europe. Funny how the diplomatic breakthrough we achieved here in the Balkans, with the help of the USA, was turned into a defeat by the EU. The EU failed to capitalise on the deal it previously supported.

Now, they’re wondering why the genie is coming out of the bottle that Macedonia and Greece closed six years ago. We closed the issue, but the EU kept it open. No one here expected we’d join the EU immediately, but no one also expected that the EU, which had supported the agreement, would keep placing new obstacles in our path instead of providing the expected support.

The name change of our country was deeply painful. And just when we thought our perspectives were expanding, they came up with the new enlargement concept, followed by the veto from Bulgaria, then the French proposal, then the demand to amend our Constitution…

And it’s normal that they gave time and space for the forces that were against the Agreement to gain strength both in Greece and Macedonia. They let dissatisfaction and frustration to grow among those who found it difficult but ultimately accepted the sacrifice with the change of the constitutional name, while saying “let’s get it done and move forward.” We were assured that it wasn’t just for our own benefit but for the benefit of everyone that Macedonia included a geographical marker in its name, and Greece accepted the uniqueness of the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language. At least they didn’t lie to us about NATO.

If we had advanced towards the EU immediately after the Prespa agreement, without all the nonsense they caused with their own selfishness and self-absorption, it would have been beneficial for the stability of the EU. At least this black hole in the heart of Europe would have been closed by all parameters.

Who benefits from reopening a question that was already resolved? The EU?

Instead of being a factor of peace and progress, the EU has become a factor of instability.

4 In a Skopje state hospital, there’s a mailbox in the middle of the corridor with the words “Praises and Complaints” written in large letters, and on another sheet above there are instructions for the patients – that praises and complaints should be addressed to the clinical psychologist in a room on the first floor. In other words, in our public healthcare system, regardless if you submit praise or a complaint, you have a loose screw, you need treatment.

Meanwhile, an entire month has passed, and there’s still no answer for the source of the stench in the Surgical Clinics.

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski