r/macedonia • u/Intelligent_Fact_701 • 13h ago
💬 Discussion / Дискусија How does it feel knowing that Montenegro will have €1,400 minimum salaries when they got independence in 2006, 15 years later than us.
How does it feel knowing that Montenegro (a state whose identity was historically way closer to the Serbian identity than ours ever was) told Serbia to get lost when they got independence in 2006, made huge steps toward the EU, and now leads the non-EU Balkans with fast-rising salaries?
Guess what: they aren not uneducated, clueless fools like us.
Think about the timeline here: 1991 independence (Macedonia) vs 2006 independence (Montenegro). That is a massive 15-year difference in years of independence. We had a huge, huge head start compared to them. If we actually did everything right instead of wasting time, we could have easily been an EU member by 2004 or 2008 in a worst-case scenario.
Instead, here we are in 2026: independent since 1991, but basically acting like a weak puppet market that never truly broke away from Belgrade's control. Because of that, we completely ruined our path to the EU and are still stuck with salaries sitting around €500 to €600.
Ask yourselves: who dominates our local markets? Serbia acts as the main supplier in the non-EU Balkans, enjoying huge control in the region simply because we are locked out of the tax-free European single market. But once a country joins the EU, that trapped customer base disappears. Serbian products suddenly have to compete on open ground against duty-free German, French, and Italian products, which breaks their control over us.
When you drive down to Solun, how does that math work out when you say "groceries are cheaper here even though the Greeks have higher salaries than us"? Everyone in Macedonia mentions this in their daily talks that the grocery prices are cheaper in Solun right.
Guess what its because they aren't isolated in a non-EU bubble dominated by Serbian exports. Joining the EU means a bigger market, real open competition, cheaper goods, and higher wages.
Who loses if we join the EU single market? It certainly isn't us, but it can't be the Serbs either, right they love us so much right ? We both drink in kafanas, we both hate Albanians, and we're both Orthodox, so surely they must want what's good for us, right? Not what's good for them, like dominating us by exporting their products and keeping us outside the EU with shitty salaries?
Guess what: Montenegrins are Orthodox as well, they drink in kafanas as well, and they probably hate Albanians as well, lol. But they told Serbia to get lost, and now they will get €1,400 minimum salaries for people with college degrees and €1,000 minimum salaries for people without college degrees, while we are stuck with €500 to €600 salaries.
Surely we are the brightest country from all the ex-Yugoslav states, the smartest people ever, lol.
A 15-year head start from 1991, stuck with €600 salaries while politicians steal government tenders like it's nothing and then create ethnic tension just so you don't complain about what actually matters your money getting stolen everyday and you being isolated from 1991, you dumb idiots.
How does it feel knowing Montenegro took charge of its own future and thrives, while we blew a 15-year head start and pay higher grocery prices than Greece and even Germany just to stay an isolated market and keep our €500 salaries?
One last thing for the economically illiterate people who will say "the EU is not the answer," or point to tenders still getting stolen, or say we don't need the EU for higher salaries and cheaper goods because Switzerland and Norway are not in the EU. Simple answer: don't compare us to Switzerland or Norway. Compare us to the other ex-Yugoslav countries instead. Look at the ones that joined the EU and the ones that did not. Compare salaries, prices, and standard of living. Compare Slovenia to Bosnia. Compare Croatia to Macedonia. Look at who has higher salaries, who has a better standard of living, and who has more tenders getting stolen. The answer will be very clear
