During the second half of 2020, the South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP, in collaboration with the think tank Analytica based in Skopje, implemented a research project dedicated to the issue of Connectivity between Greece and North Macedonia. This marked the fourth consecutive project funded by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the three previous projects also focusing on cooperation between Greece and North Macedonia.

Connectivity, understood as the ability of two societies to connect with each other, served as a key driver of cooperation following the Prespa Agreement. It was recognized as holding the potential to greatly impact people-to-people, business-to-business, and government-to-government contacts and cooperation. This concept held promise in addressing some of the most pressing issues between the two countries.

After years of constrained interaction and poor cooperation due to the unresolved name dispute, Greece and North Macedonia had recently intensified efforts to cooperate at all levels. This momentum was expected to increase further as the benefits of the Prespa Agreement began to materialize and opposition to the agreement decreased.

The project aimed to bring together key stakeholders from civil society, businesses, and governments of Greece and North Macedonia to provide input facilitating better design of policy and training frameworks. The objective was to accelerate political, economic, and societal investments in connectivity.

Under the collaboration between research teams in Greece and North Macedonia, the project aimed to collect insights and perspectives from government institutions, businesses, start-ups, and civil society. These outputs sought to empower individuals, civil society actors, and officials to make more responsible decisions and improve dialogue on issues of connectivity between the two countries.

By involving government institutions, small and large companies, civil society, and academia, the project aimed to encourage the responsible deployment of connectivity-linked initiatives and actions for the joint benefit of both countries.

The project was funded by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.