Conference Paper

For the countries on the continent, the EU constitutes the most important foreign policy context. The non-military character of the organization and the soft power of its political and economic stability are highly attractive for small entities. Through institutional integration they are able to avoid marginalization in international affairs at the same time as preserving their national identities. Once inside, small member-countries are more easily able to exert influence beyond their borders than by staying out and performing individually. There is no dilemma that the foreign policy of the Republic of Macedonia should be to strive for full-fledged membership of the EU in order to compensate for its substantial ‘traditional deficit’ of power. However, in the last two years some tendencies in the foreign policy of the country have deviated from the traditional patterns of the so-called double integration agenda (EU and NATO). The ultimate aim of this paper is to expose the structural weaknesses of multi-vector foreign policy when applied by countries with the size and capacities of the Republic of Macedonia.