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North Macedonia: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Despite some democratic reform since the change in political power in 2017, North Macedonia still faces important governance challenges. State capture, corruption in the judiciary and an ineffective public administration are among the key obstacles to a successful democratic and economic transformation. The rule of law, fulfilment of human rights, environmental sustainability and inclusive economic development are threatened by systemic features of the political sphere. These include the capture of institutions by political parties and politically connected businesses, persistent clientelist practices with regards to employment in public administration and the continuing politicisation of ethnicity. To assist the country to respond to these challenges, international partners could look to support judicial reforms and the modernisation of public administration employment practices to tackle widespread clientelism, nepotism and cronyism in North Macedonia.

16 February 2022
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North Macedonia: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

Main points

  • The key forms of corruption in North Macedonia that block its successful democratic and economic transformation are state capture and corruption in the judiciary.
  • These forms of corruption facilitate organised crime, fuel citizen distrust in institutions and allow for impunity for the corrupt.
  • State capture negatively affects employment practices in public administration and the environmental sector, particularly energy.
  • There are opportunities for international actors to further support the reform of the judiciary and efforts to modernise public administration in North Macedonia.

Cite this publication


Resimić, M. (2022) North Macedonia: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2022:2)

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Miloš Resimić

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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