Problems of the Macedonian nation genesis through the prism of the Republic of North Macedonia's foreign policy

The presence of an ethno-national factor in the Macedonian foreign policy, expressed in the emergence of the phenomenon of ethno-politicization of interstate relations, necessitated the study of the categories of ethnicity, identity, nationality, and their interrelationships on the example of the foreign policy of Skopje. It`s worth noting that the definition of ethno-politicization of foreign policy isn`t widely used in Russian science, but at the same time it`s the most capacious term characterizing the process of shifting the emphasis in the foreign policy of the Republic of North Macedonia to ethnic issues. During this study, the author identifies the most appropriate definitions. If we take as a basis that identity is the embodiment of ideas about oneself as an ideal group, then national identity is a set of same ideas associated with the awareness of belonging to a nation. In this case, a nation is defined as a community that exists because its members are aware of their belonging to this community. An ethnos, therefore, is a society existing within certain geographical boundaries and having a common origin and culture, without a political expression. Of course, the constructivist interpretation of these terms seems most appropriate in the Macedonian case, but we should be careful with it in analysis of the formation of the Macedonian nation: in particular, this concerns the issue of situational awareness of the nation`s members of their belonging to it. In the case of the Republic of North Macedonia, there is no such conjuncture. The appearance of these concepts in the Macedonian foreign policy makes it possible to draw a conclusion about the nature of the process of formation of the Macedonian nation, which has a clear positive dynamics; since realizing itself through dialogue with others, the Macedonian state has come closer to gaining a stable self-identification.