In June 2025, North Macedonia became the first country in the Western Balkans to resolve all known cases of statelessness resulting from the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), as reported by UNHCR. Following efforts by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Parliament, civil society organisations, and international actors, the last known 317 people who had lived as stateless since the country’s independence were finally granted citizenship. Civil society organisations, including the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA), played a central role throughout this process, identifying stateless individuals and supporting them through the relevant procedures. This milestone marks the culmination of a 34-year process, during which nearly 20,000 stateless people acquired citizenship since the end of the SFRY.
This landmark achievement sets an important example of what is possible, with hopes that it will encourage other countries in the region to take similar steps. It is also essential that the authorities now maintain this momentum and build on the progress made, particularly to address the remaining caseload of people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness due to lack of documentation and civil registration – a caseload that continues to grow in North Macedonia. Tackling these outstanding issues will require coordinated action across government institutions, in close cooperation with civil society, and with sufficient resourcing to ensure that all cases can be resolved.
As the Index shows, progress in addressing statelessness will also depend on closing persistent gaps in birth and civil registration procedures, which continue to expose people, especially Roma, to ongoing risks of statelessness. In November 2025, the Court of Appeal in Skopje confirmed that the Ministry of Justice had failed to implement a 2020 law intended to resolve the situation of people not registered in the birth registry through a ‘special registration’ mechanism. The Court found that the authorities had not ensured equal access to fundamental rights during this procedure, and that non-implementation of the law resulted in systemic exclusion and discrimination against Roma and other unregistered individuals. The ruling upheld an earlier judgment from the Skopje Basic Civil Court and arose from a collective complaint filed in 2022 by MYLA and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), both ENS members.
Photo by Albert Hyseni on Unsplash.
