Everywhere you look in December and January there are people broadcasting their reviews of the year just gone. Facebook is especially popular for this. Log on now, and there’s a long list of friends grinning out at us, inviting us to check out their year in review.
Looking at Macedonia, it’s not an easy call even for an outside observer like me. Perhaps especially for an outside observer. The country’s journey through 2015 was complex, sometimes turbulent, sometimes dangerous, often controversial. And it’s a journey that still has a long way to run.
So I am not going to attempt a classic review. Instead, I wanted to offer a flavour of my year as a diplomat in Macedonia. And because the work and non-work experiences of a diplomat are often tightly entwined, I wanted to give you a flavour of both.
It’s been an extraordinary year, eventful and at times testing, but filled throughout with great moments with my family and friends. Here are my Twelve Days of Christmas (not in numerical order like the English Christmas carol).
1 – The spectacular view from Galicica: three European countries, two awe-inspiring lakes and one broad sweep of Balkan mountains. We climbed up there in the summer from Lake Ohrid. Among the very best places in Europe.
2 – The resilience-challenging Political Crisis. This is the centrepiece of Macedonia’s journey through 2015 and on into 2016. How Macedonia responds – how it avoids the traps, how it grasps the opportunities – will define what sort of country Macedonians live in for years to come. This has changed the way we work in the Embassy.
3 – The nine medals my daughter Florence brought home from the European Swimming Championships. The championships – for people with Down’s syndrome – took place in Italy. Florence is half-British, half-French and she is brilliantly coached by a Macedonian in Skopje.
4 – Most tantalising question. And in some ways the most important. Why are you, a foreigner, interfering in our internal Macedonian affairs? The short answer is that this is kind of how Europe works. The EU, which Macedonians overwhelmingly want to join, is based to some extent on shared sovereignty. Each Member State has a degree of control or influence over decisions that affect other Member States. If Macedonia joins the EU, it will gain influence over decisions that impact the UK and the rest of the EU. That is why Candidate States have to meet membership criteria. The UK, like other Member States, wants Macedonia to meet those criteria and to join us in the EU. The international community will support you all the way. And that includes the occasional piece of frank advice.
5 – Culinary discoveries in Macedonia. In 2014, as a new-comer, I discovered the ‘obvious’ specialities: gjevrek, ajvar, wood-fired burek. In 2015, I have moved on to the more hidden specialities, of which madzun is the stand-out. A spoonful in a cup of tursko is the best fuel you can find.
6 – The best club in Macedonia. No question about this. Macedonia’s Chevening scholars – those brilliant people who have done postgrad studies at UK universities on a Chevening scholarship. You have only to meet Macedonia’s Chevening Alumni Association to see their extraordinary energy, creativity and ambition – qualities that will contribute hugely to Macedonia’s future.
7 – Social Media in Macedonia. Like just about everywhere, Facebook and, increasingly, Twitter are the channels of communication. Facebook has long been popular here, and Twitter has grown dramatically over the last 12 months. I enjoy engaging on both, especially Twitter. But both suffer the shouty, accusation-filled exchanges that undermine their contribution to healthy democratic debate in Macedonia. In some ways they are a reflection of the state of public debate.
8 – One major humanitarian challenge. The migrant crisis didn’t take us by surprise. But as a continent we have been slow to find an effective response. Having seen the challenge at first hand in Gevgelija and Tabanovce, I know there is a lot of good work being done to meet it. But I sense we will need to dig deeper in 2016.
9 – One new language. With a group of colleagues from the Embassy, I have taken up Albanian lessons. So far I have learnt little more than the fact that Albanian is an extraordinarily difficult and beautiful language. But it’s great to use what little I now have. Gëzuar!
10 – One awful illustration of our vulnerability as a society and of the need to work together. The fire-fight in Kumanovo in May was shocking, tragic, and a reminder (if we needed one) of how much our security depends on good governance, on cross-border collaboration and also on really understanding where things went wrong so the right lessons are learnt.
11 – Signs of the growth of civil society and voluntary action. The British Embassy supported Ajde Makedonija in its action to clean up our environment through clearing away litter and illegally dumped rubbish. There is a lot of energy and good leadership going on there. The 2016 Twitter Calendar is another example. And through the happy and fulfilled life my daughter leads here, we see daily signs of increasing inclusion of people with disabilities. Some of that comes from government, but much results from non-governmental individual and group action.
12 – Twenty-seven rides up Vodno to the Millennium Cross since January. That’s a total of about 25 vertical kilometres through stunning scenery. I’d do it all day long if I could.
So that’s a brief glimpse of 2015, as it was for me. Where will 2016 take us?
Charles Garrett, British Ambassador to Macedonia