Title: The influence of Slovenian economic diplomacy and companies on changing environmental values in North Macedonia

Authors: Breda Mulec

Addresses: Faculty of Government and European Studies, New University (Kranj), Slovenia, Germany

Abstract: Despite some progress, countries still face challenges when it comes to environmental protection. The paper relies on existing academic research and a structured interview conducted with diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, as well as representatives from Slovenian companies, to analyse the potential influence that companies and economic diplomacy from more developed countries with high environmental protection standards have on changing attitudes towards the environment in countries with lower standards. We focused our attention on Slovenian companies operating abroad in order to determine whether Slovenian companies in North Macedonia apply higher environmental protection standards than required by the regulations in the host country. Despite its efforts to join the EU, North Macedonia faces a spate of environmental protection challenges, including high levels of air pollution that place it among the worst affected countries.

Keywords: economic diplomacy; corporate social responsibility; environmental protection; environmental standards; North Macedonia; Slovenia; pollution havens; public administration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDIPE.2025.149233

International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy, 2025 Vol.11 No.4, pp.365 - 381

Received: 29 Nov 2023
Accepted: 10 Feb 2024
Published online: 20 Oct 2025 *

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