Fyrom Won't Budge on Name

[Greece2006]

Fyrom Won't Budge on Name

A top Skopje diplomat calls his country's finn stand on the issue
'a matter of dignity'; Athens calls it a spearhead for irredentism


By George Gilson


In an interview with the Athens News, a high-level Fyrom diplomat in Skopje close to UN-sponsored talks with Greece to resolve the name dispute says his country is not ready to drop the claim to the name Republic of Macedonia.

The diplomat describes the political catch-22 which an abandonment of the constitutional name Republic of Macedonia entails. "It would mean political suicide for any government," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Greek diplomats say much the same about the prospect of abandoning opposition to that name.

In a series of campaign speeches both at home and abroad, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has gotten tough with Fyrom, calling on Skopje to do its share to reach a compromise and abandon irredentist rhetoric and acts. That includes a recent move to rename Skopje's airport after Alexander the Great, which was criticised by the EU.

The Fyrom diplomat disavows any expansionist claims, insisting that "we don't have any claims on anyone. We are quite happy with our borders."

But Greece complains that Fyrom schoolbooks still present large areas of northern Greece as being part of Fyrom. A US Congressional resolution 356 of 1 May 2007 cites a 2004 Fyrom military academy textbook showing a "Greater Macedonia" extending to Mount Olympus in Greece. The Fyrom diplomat says the military textbook was withdrawn a few months ago and that the controversial schoolbook maps depict "historical maps that have nothing to do with the present Republic of Macedonia or any sorts of claims".

Greek foreign ministry sources insist the military textbook was not withdrawn and is available in English on the internet. The foreign service has accumulated plentiful evidence from recent Fyrom textbooks that promulgate the theory that the entire The Fyrom diplomat was reluctant to say that the Slav population in Fyrom hails from the ancient Macedonian dynasty of Philip and Alexander the Great, as organised propagandists in his country have for decades, claiming the ancient Macedonians were not Greek. "It's not very clear. This is an issue between historians," he said, noting that most Slavs in Fyrom believe that "in terms of genes, the Slavs mixed with them [the descendants ofthe ancient Macedonians]".

Karamanlis and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis have threatened that Greece could block Fyrom's Nato and EU entry if a name compromise is not reached.

But the EU has other ideas. A July 12 European Parliament report said clearly that the resolution of the name dispute is not a precondition for membership, and that countries can freely choose their name. New Democracy MEPs approved the report and foreign ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos hailed it as an improvement on a previous draft that spoke of the "Macedonian" government.

On July 17, Thessaloniki Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos called for a referendum on the name dispute and for the government to veto Fyrom's entry in Nato and the EU absent a settlement.


The next step

Fyrom's membership in Nato and the EU, in which Greece is a member and wields veto power, is considered crucial to Fyrom's longterm security survival. But while Athens has brandished the threat of the veto, its northern neighbour appears unswayed.

When asked if it is not in Fyrom's interest to have a strong friend in Greece given the potentially hostile Albanian environment surrounding the small and weak state, the Fyrom diplomat turned the argument on its head. He quoted Gafurr Adili, the leader of the separatist Albanian National Army that waged war in northwest Fyrom against government forces in 2001, as saying, "How can we support a country whose name is not internationally recognised?" The diplomat suggested that accepting the country's constitutional name would have impeded Albanian terrorists. The Albanian National Army aimed to unite Albania, Kosovo, and Albanian-dominated parts of Fyrom, Serbia and Montenegro.

The Fyrom diplomat conceded there is a danger of a Greek veto on his country's Nato or EU membership, but he says the 1995 interim agreement says "if we become a member of an international organisation of which Greece is a member as Fyrom, Greece will not block that". Athens accuses Skopje of selectively using the agreement, ignoring the ban on irredentist propaganda and its basic aim of a compromise settlement. .

"Our nation was last in the region to gain statehood, and the name is basically the foundation of our identity. Because of the permanent challenge to our identity, it is becoming popular for people to look deeper in history for their roots. But we are committed to keep trying, " the Fyrom diplomat said, asserting that Greece is posing a unilateral demand without any reciprocal demands from Skopje.

Fyrom's official position is a double-name formula, under which Greece alone would use a combined name (such as the "Republika Makedonija-Skopje" proposed by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in March 2005 to be used by all countries and not just Greece) and the rest of the world would call the country the Republic of Macedonia. Greece firmly rejects the double*name formula. While Greece accepted that Nimetz's proposal as a basis for talks, Fyrom rejected it.

Nimetz's next proposal was rejected out of hand by Greece. As the Fyrom diplomat noted, the UN Secretariat in the first years would use the Slav spelling "Republika Makedonija", and later replace that with "Republic of Macedonia", while UN member-states would be able to choose between the two, and Greece would use "Republika Makedonija-Skopje". Worse for Athens, use of the name Macedonia in the Greek province of that name would be under certain restrictions.

"We have an extremely friendly attitude towards Greece. But if we must change our name to be friends with Greece, that's not a very friendly precondition. We want to maintain our identity," the diplomatic source said.

Asked why adding the word Skopje to the name means losing identity, the diplomat said: "It's a matter of dignity. After changing our flag, amending the constitution and signing the 1995 interim agreement, we need some basic national energy to continue to build our country. Our stability and integration in Nato and the EU is also in Greece's interest."

While the UN Security Council's mandate for talks to resolve the dispute implies that some compromise is necessary, the Fyrom diplomat insists that this "can be done in more than one way". "The double-name formula is already a concession, "he said.

The Fyrom diplomat expressed guarded optimism for a settlement after the Greek election, when Nimetz expected to table a fresh proposal. "I'm sure that after the Greek elections, there will be a window of opportunity. If both sides are inventive and reach out, perhaps a solution is not impossible. That would be ideal for us because at that point we can really rely on Greece's friendship also in our subsequent EU application," the diplomat said.

geographic region of Macedonia (including parts of Greece, Bulgaria and Albania) has since the 9th century BC been the fatherland of a single Macedonian people with no connection to Hellenism. The books claim that Macedonia was violently dismembered in 1913 and that the regions in Greece and Bulgaria remain "enslaved".

[Truth Bearer]

geographic region of Macedonia (including parts of Greece, Bulgaria and Albania) has since the 9th century BC been the fatherland of a single Macedonian people with no connection to Hellenism. The books claim that Macedonia was violently dismembered in 1913 and that the regions in Greece and Bulgaria remain "enslaved".

How or where does this comment fit in the article?

[Spartan]

I think we should petition the Greek government with the alternative names we have decided on!

Vardarmacedonia, etc.

[terastios]

Originally Posted by Spartan

I think we should petition the Greek government with the alternative names we have decided on!

Vardarmacedonia, etc.

No Spartan!
Let's take it to the end!
NO TERM "MACEDONIA" IN THEIR NAME!
Let them give us the alternatives and we'll think about it!

Not even a step back and let's see who will prevail!
[insult removed]

[Spartan]

Here is how you can write to your representative if you live in the U.S or are a U.S citizen.

Action Alert: U.S. House of Reps FYROM Resolution May 2007

Go to the upper right hand side and click on How to contact your representative.

I have already done so. Here is what I wrote.






"For the past 16 years there has been a debate over a name in the Balkans, Macedonia. The small nation of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as known by the U.N and the E.U in 1991 voted to name themselves "Macedonia". They base this on the belief that there population is based on that of the Ancient Macedonians of which Alexander the Great was it's most famous citizen. The interesting thing is that this nations majority"ethnic Macedonians" consist of a Slavic people descended primarily from Bulgarians and to a lesser extent Serbians with the largest minority group being Albanian.

The belief of being descendent from the Ancient Macedonians is based on former communist propoganda started by Joseph Tito(Former dictator of Yugoslavia) so that he could gain access to the Aegean through northern Greece. Part of his effort was to support the communist movement in Greece which led to the Greek Civil War in 1946. These efforts are in part what led to the Cold War. Even though Tito died in 1980 his propoganda continued on. In 1991 the small nation of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM for short, which had just gained independence continued that effort.

Their actions consisted of: 1)creating paper currency with images that exist only on greek soil such as the White Tower in Thessaloniki. 2)Creating a national flag with the image of the Vergina Sun which was discoverd in Vergina Greece in the tomb of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, in 1976. 3)Creating school books with maps of what they called "Greater Macedonia" which included Greece and Bulgaria. Greece has around 51% of the Greater Region of Macedonia, with all the original homeland of the Ancient Macedonians residing within. 4)An Article(#49) in their constitution stipulating the right to "...care for the rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries....". This article implies that the country was in existance since before 1991 and that the bilingual, Greek and Slavic speaking people in northern Greece were actually expatriots of their country.

Greece in response to these actions asked FYROM to remove these items and change their name to a suitable one for both sides, but they refused. In 1993 Greece placed an economic embargo on FYROM to force the changes. Within two years FYROM gave in and applied the necessary changes except for one. This was the name.

Since 1995 there has been an agreement that both sides will work towards finding a mutually acceptable name. Several solutions have been presented but they have been unsatisfactory to both sides. During that time the FYROM government has continued its irredentist actions towards Greece and its heritage. These actions are: 1)Placing maps in their military academy textbooks showing, once again, a "Greater Macedonia". 2)Renaming their capital, Skopje's airport to Alexander the Great. 3)Renaiming roads after Ancient Macedonian nobility. 4)Erecting statues of Alexander the Great in Skopje at their Capital and other towns.

Even though the FYROM government claims that they have removed the books from their military academy, they remain in circulation till this day. These actions show that the government of FYROM have not stopped their irredentist claims and that they have not respected the interim agreement signed with greece in 1995. This in face of the fact that greece has been the number one investor in FYROM since 1995.

This is why I write you this letter today. As a citizen of **********and a professional in the field of ******** I am requesting your support for House Res. 356 on FYROM's actions. The continued actions by the FYROM government will lead to instability within the region in the future, a region which has been called the "Powder Keg of Europe", and which has been the center of violence since ancient times."

[Morphesau]

Rightio i'm out of semi etirement as soon as i recover from my condition.

Our ancestors faced allllllll odds and won so will we to the end.

[Jordan Piperkata]

Why were my posts deleted in this thread?

[admin]

I agree it should be called Vardaska what is was before. No Macedonia in the name as they do not have any link to ancient Macedonians and have confused the less learned with their namings...

[Jordan Piperkata]

Originally Posted by admin

I agree it should be called Vardaska what is was before. No Macedonia in the name as they do not have any link to ancient Macedonians and have confused the less learned with their namings...

Then I hope that you emphaize that the rest of the ex-yugoslav countries rename themselvs according to the Banovina system that was in place during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, thus naming them in accordance to their main rivers, Dravska, Vrbaska, Dunavska, Drinska, Zetska, Moravska, Savska, Primorska and Vardarska.

[akritas_gs]

Originally Posted by Morphesau

Rightio i'm out of semi etirement as soon as i recover from my condition.

Our ancestors faced allllllll odds and won so will we to the end.

SAY WORD. Itan i epi tas , they want the name then MOLON LAVE disgusting Slavs !