Ohrid Agreement

The Ohrid Framework Agreement (Marrëveshja e Ohrit, Охридски рамковен договор) was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Albanian representatives on 13 August 2001. The agreement ended the armed conflict between the National Liberation Army and the Macedonian security forces and set the groundwork for improving the rights of ethnic Albanians.

The Agreement also included provisions for altering the official languages of the country, with any language spoken by over 20% of the population becoming co-official with the Macedonian language at the municipal level. Currently only the Albanian language, with an approximate 25% of the population fulfils this criterion. According to the document, the version in English language is the only authentic version of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. The Macedonian Government had to adapt the Constitution of Macedonia to give the Albanian minority living in Macedonia fifteen basic rights. The lead negotiator on the behalf of the United States in the Ohrid Agreement was James W. Pardew, who had been dispatched by then-Secretary of State, Colin Powell.