akritas
06-16-2007, 06:48 AM
In the below link you can download and read the "famous" Meijer Report
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/pr/663/663188/663188en.pdf
4. The country’s name and the attitude of Greece
The Sobranie, the parliament of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, adopted the new Constitution on 17 November 1991, in which the country was defined as a sovereign state using the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’. Although under the Badinter criteria all the former Yugoslav republics would be able to obtain international recognition as independent states, the new country was not admitted to the United Nations until 8 April 1993.
The reasons why its membership was opposed lie mainly in the meaning of the name ‘Macedonia’, which historically is known as the country of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) who managed for a short time to extend his empire as far as Pakistan. On the grounds of the language and culture of the time the southern neighbour, Greece, regards ancient Macedonia as part of its own history and the name Macedonia as an internal name. The use of the same name by a neighbouring state with different language and culture provokes considerable objections from public opinion in Greece. The Greek objections are not about
denying the country’s right to independence or rejecting effective cooperation with the northern neighbour, but a wish to express the idea, by adding concepts such as ‘Vardar’, Skopje’ or ‘North’, that the state with the constitutional name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’ does not include the whole area that is regarded historically as Macedonia.
Under an interim agreement the United Nations has since 1993 provisionally designated the country as the ‘former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’, often presented as the English abbreviation ‘fYRoM’, which is totally mystifying to public opinion both at home and abroad. However, the United States, Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China and even a number of EU Member States use the constitutional name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’, omitting the reference to the previous administrative situation included in the term ‘fYRoM’.
Historical references of this kind are unusual. Moreover there is in Europe, in addition to the independent state of Luxembourg, also an adjoining Belgian province with the same name, while the independent state of Moldova coincides with the use of the same name for the north-east of neighbouring Romania. Again, the state of Azerbaijan, geographically part of Europe, bears the same name as two adjoining provinces of Iran. In all these cases the repeated use of the same name causes no problems. Clearly therefore, in this case the dispute is not so much over a name as over fears of claims on territory.
In this connection it is much to be regretted that the national airport, located to the east of Skopje, which until December 2006 was known as Aerodrom Skopje or Petrovec Airport, has since then been dubbed Alexander the Great (Aleksandar Veliki). This symbol gives rise to confusion with the existing international airport of Megas Alexandrosto the east of the northern Greek city of Kavala, a name with the same meaning. For the sake of mutual confidence it is important that before accession to the EU a bilateral agreement is concluded between the two countries over the use of names in their mutual relations and over the removal of any continuing misunderstandings or irritations concerning symbols and territorial claims
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/pr/663/663188/663188en.pdf
4. The country’s name and the attitude of Greece
The Sobranie, the parliament of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, adopted the new Constitution on 17 November 1991, in which the country was defined as a sovereign state using the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’. Although under the Badinter criteria all the former Yugoslav republics would be able to obtain international recognition as independent states, the new country was not admitted to the United Nations until 8 April 1993.
The reasons why its membership was opposed lie mainly in the meaning of the name ‘Macedonia’, which historically is known as the country of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) who managed for a short time to extend his empire as far as Pakistan. On the grounds of the language and culture of the time the southern neighbour, Greece, regards ancient Macedonia as part of its own history and the name Macedonia as an internal name. The use of the same name by a neighbouring state with different language and culture provokes considerable objections from public opinion in Greece. The Greek objections are not about
denying the country’s right to independence or rejecting effective cooperation with the northern neighbour, but a wish to express the idea, by adding concepts such as ‘Vardar’, Skopje’ or ‘North’, that the state with the constitutional name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’ does not include the whole area that is regarded historically as Macedonia.
Under an interim agreement the United Nations has since 1993 provisionally designated the country as the ‘former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’, often presented as the English abbreviation ‘fYRoM’, which is totally mystifying to public opinion both at home and abroad. However, the United States, Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China and even a number of EU Member States use the constitutional name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’, omitting the reference to the previous administrative situation included in the term ‘fYRoM’.
Historical references of this kind are unusual. Moreover there is in Europe, in addition to the independent state of Luxembourg, also an adjoining Belgian province with the same name, while the independent state of Moldova coincides with the use of the same name for the north-east of neighbouring Romania. Again, the state of Azerbaijan, geographically part of Europe, bears the same name as two adjoining provinces of Iran. In all these cases the repeated use of the same name causes no problems. Clearly therefore, in this case the dispute is not so much over a name as over fears of claims on territory.
In this connection it is much to be regretted that the national airport, located to the east of Skopje, which until December 2006 was known as Aerodrom Skopje or Petrovec Airport, has since then been dubbed Alexander the Great (Aleksandar Veliki). This symbol gives rise to confusion with the existing international airport of Megas Alexandrosto the east of the northern Greek city of Kavala, a name with the same meaning. For the sake of mutual confidence it is important that before accession to the EU a bilateral agreement is concluded between the two countries over the use of names in their mutual relations and over the removal of any continuing misunderstandings or irritations concerning symbols and territorial claims