Skopje, 4 December 2023 (MIA) - Political and ethnic affiliation continue to be the most common grounds for discrimination, while one in three citizens has been discriminated against on at least one ground, shows an analysis carried out in May-June 2023 by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), with support from the European Union and the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

Citizens' trust in institutions in charge of preventing and protecting against discrimination has decreased, data shows, while the only institution that saw an increase was the Commission on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination (CPPD).

"Data from the barometer on citizens' perceptions of what are the most common grounds for discrimination are mostly in line with CPPD statistics," said Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination Chairperson Igor Jadrovski on Monday, adding that in the past three years, including September 2023, the Commission acted on 847 petitions.

He stated that the number of citizens who contact the Commission first to seek protection from discrimination keeps increasing.

"The situation is similar in terms of compatibility between the citizens' perception of areas of discrimination and the Commission's data. Discrimination most often occurs in the workplace, access to goods and services, media, and public information," Jadrovski notes.

Results show that respondents who said that they experienced discrimination in the past 12 months were most often discriminated against in public, including while looking for a job or in the workplace. One in five respondents said that they experienced discrimination from a healthcare professional.

In 2023, there is almost no difference in the perception of ethnic discrimination between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians. Comparing data from previous years, perceptions of discrimination based on ethnicity decreased among Albanians, and increased among Macedonians.

European Union Ambassador David Geer also attended the presentation of results and said that EU supports efforts to combat discrimination in various areas and constantly reviews its internal strategy to see what it can do to increase its efficiency in combating discrimination.

"For you as a country candidate, the question is how you can best use the accession process in order to progress on the road to EU. I think what you see is that EU's legislation provides many opportunities that you can use for further reforms. To make use of institutions that already exist and ensure their efficiency in the fight against such issues," Geer emphasized. ssh/ik/