Foreign press on the Macedonian issue

[Bardas]

Interesting read. You'll find the usual "so what's in a name" and "something only Greeks can understand" you'd expect from the British tabloids. But it also echoes the growing trend amongst other western media with the core message: Greece has agreed to compromise so the balls now in Fyrom's court.

I'm wondering if we're coming to the end game of the name dispute?

The row over Macedonia's name rumbles on

But Greeks are hoping that a boost for the balkan nationalists in Macedonia could unexpectedly pave the way for compromise

Can one of the world's more abstruse diplomatic disputes finally be resolved with the election of a man widely seen as an unyielding Balkan nationalist?

If senior foreign ministry officials in Athens are to be believed following the emphatic re-election of Macedonia's Nikola Gruevski, the answer is a resounding yes.

The hardliner's victory with a result that has surprised even his own VMRO-DPMNE party – his will be the healthiest majority in Skopje's 120-seat house in more than a decade – has unexpectedly been met with barely concealed delight in Greece.

Never mind that the fresh-faced leader campaigned on a wave of nationalist anger over Athens' disruption of his country's bid to join Nato. Or that the poll was marred by gun-battles and accusations of electoral fraud. Or even that, earlier this week, his foreign minister, Antonio Milososki, managed to up the ante by raising the taboo issue of the right of "Greece's exiled Macedonian civil war refugees" to reclaim lost property – a point of contention if ever there was one for the Greeks.

As he focuses on putting together a coalition government, Gruevski is being seen as the right man at the right time to finally end the 17-year-old festering row between the two neighbours over the mini-state's nomenclature.

Rather than believing the scale of his victory will give him no other option but to hold firm, Greek policy wonks hope that his re-invigorated credibility will allow him to accept a compromise solution in the struggle that has resulted in his country having to go by the tortuous name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or Fyrom, for far too long.

More specifically, there are hopes that from his consolidated power base Gruevski will be able to sell a new composite name, such as Northern Macedonia, to his people.

That the Greeks have been their own worst enemy in this dispute cannot be denied. Few beyond the borders of Greece can understand Athens' hypersensitivity, or hostility, to the mini-state calling itself the Republic of Macedonia. Nor can they really understand Athens' claim that the name conveys covert territorial ambitions over the agriculturally rich adjacent Greek province of Macedonia. After all, say skeptics, isn't Greece the region's pre-eminent EU state with an economy roughly 16 times bigger than that of dirt-poor, soldier-scarce Macedonia?

The miscomprehension has been reinforced by a propaganda machine whose spin-doctoring begins in 323 BC, the year of the death of the original Macedonian, Alexander the Great.

Mercifully, Athens' ruling conservatives have taken a more pragmatic approach, eschewing arguments that delve back into antiquity and raise the spectre of the great Macedonian soldier king.

Instead, they have focused on more recent claims starting with Greece's brutal civil war of 1946-49 when Tito, with the help of slavophone Greek communists, attempted to create a Greek Macedonia that stretched to the warm-water port of Salonika, then much coveted by Stalin. Textbooks, maps, articles and banknotes that have depicted the former republic expanding into Greek-held "Aegean Macedonia" have also been cited.

And despite loud opposition from Greek nationalists – a hardcore bunch who for the first time in years are now represented in parliament – Athens has agreed to accept a synthetic name that would include the M-word as long as it denotes the ex-communist nation's geographical designation. Not that long ago, that would have been unthinkable.

The need to resolve the issue has been highlighted by the violence that eclipsed the Macedonian poll – violence that resulted in two rounds of run-offs, elicited loud criticism from the EU and left several dead and nine seriously wounded.

Although limited to areas populated by the ex-republic's restive Albanian minority (abutting Albania proper and neighbouring Kosovo), the gun-battles have once again shown how easily the ethnically-divided country can descend into chaos. And why, more then ever, it is now so important that it joins that great stabiliser of nations: Nato.

Greece has come a long way from the intransigence of its stance in the early 1990s when it also staged a reprehensible trade blockade against its northern neighbour.

But it is clearly not going to budge any further. After acting on its threat to veto the statelet's entry into Nato this April, it has made clear that it will also stop the country joining the EU later this year if the row remains unresolved.

That can only mean trouble for a state wracked by mass unemployment, ethnic tensions and strained relations with its other neighbours, Serbia and Bulgaria.

It is hard not to feel a degree of compassion for Macedonians, especially the younger generation who unlike their former Yugoslav parents have only ever known themselves as such and are staunchly opposed to altering their country's name.

Nikola Gruevski is not going to have it easy. Later this month when UN-brokered negotiations are expected once again to begin in earnest, his will be a tremulous balancing act between catering to the patriotism of his core voters and playing hardball – tactics that could exasperate the west and anger local Albanians who want a compromise – and manoeuvring his country out of hardship and isolation.

The new leader may find it hard to believe but more than anyone it is the Greeks who are wishing him luck.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...balkans.greece

[Astoria]

The row over FYROMacedonia’s name
Helena Smith | The Guardian




Can one of the world’s more abstruse diplomatic disputes finally be resolved with the election of a man widely seen as an unyielding Balkan nationalist? If senior Foreign Ministry officials in Athens are to be believed following the emphatic re-election of FYROMacedonia’s Nikola Gruevski, the answer is a resounding yes.

The hard-liner’s victory with a result that has surprised even his own VMRO-DPMNE party — his will be the healthiest majority in Skopje’s 120-seat house in more than a decade — has unexpectedly been met with barely concealed delight in Greece.

Never mind that the fresh-faced leader campaigned on a wave of nationalist anger over Athens’ disruption of his country’s bid to join NATO. Or that the poll was marred by gun battles and accusations of electoral fraud. Or even that, earlier this week, his foreign minister, Antonio Milososki, managed to up the ante by raising the taboo issue of the right of “Greece’s exiled FYROMacedonian civil war refugees” to reclaim lost property — a point of contention if ever there was one for the Greeks.

As he focuses on putting together a coalition government, Gruevski is being seen as the right man at the right time to finally end the 17-year-old festering row between the two neighbors over the ministate’s nomenclature. Rather than believing the scale of his victory will give him no other option but to hold firm, Greek policy wonks hope that his reinvigorated credibility will allow him to accept a compromise solution in the struggle that has resulted in his country having to go by the tortuous name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or Fyrom, for far too long.

More specifically, there are hopes that from his consolidated power base Gruevski will be able to sell a new composite name, such as Northern Macedonia, to his people.

That the Greeks have been their own worst enemy in this dispute cannot be denied. Few beyond the borders of Greece can understand Athens’ hypersensitivity, or hostility, to the ministate calling itself the Republic of Macedonia. Nor can they really understand Athens’ claim that the name conveys covert territorial ambitions over the agriculturally rich adjacent Greek province of Macedonia.

After all, say skeptics, isn’t Greece the region’s pre-eminent EU state with an economy roughly 16 times bigger than that of dirt-poor, soldier-scarce FYROMacedonia?

The miscomprehension has been reinforced by a propaganda machine whose spin-doctoring begins in 323 BC, the year of the death of the original Macedonian, Alexander the Great.

Mercifully, Athens’ ruling conservatives have taken a more pragmatic approach, eschewing arguments that delve back into antiquity and raise the specter of the great Macedonian soldier king.

Instead, they have focused on more recent claims starting with Greece’s brutal civil war of 1946-49 when Tito, with the help of slavophone Greek Communists, attempted to create a Greek Macedonia that stretched to the warm-water port of Salonika, then much coveted by Stalin. Textbooks, maps, articles and banknotes that have depicted the former republic expanding into Greek-held “Aegean Macedonia” have also been cited.

And despite loud opposition from Greek nationalists — a hardcore bunch who for the first time in years are now represented in Parliament — Athens has agreed to accept a synthetic name that would include the M-word as long as it denotes the ex-Communist nation’s geographical designation. Not that long ago, that would have been unthinkable.

[Astoria]

Sitel, FYROMacedonia: Bulgaria reckons that FYROMacedonia will not become EU and NATO member state before solving the name issue


7 July 2008 | 20:32 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. Bulgaria reckons that FYROMacedonia will not become EU and NATO member state if the issue with the name wouldn’t be solved, FYROMacedonian Sitel television reported as citing Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev. Stanishev has pointed out in an interview with Greek media that the issue about the name could destabilize the region due to the menace of many interior problems in FYROMacedonia, which could affect Bulgaria and the region in negative way.

[Astoria]

FYROMacedonia's top officials discuss out name issue



8 July 2008 | 14:41 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. FYROMaceodnia's President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister-designate Nikola Gruevski are set to discuss today the name dispute with Greece, Makfax informs.

The statement released by President Crvenkovski's Cabinet says the meeting is of coordinative nature and it will take place at President's Cabinet.
Sources in Crvenkovski's Cabinet told Makfax news agency that Crvenkovski-Gruevski meeting does not hint at a fresh visit of the UN mediator Matthew Nimetz.

The same sources said the president and the prime minister-designate will address the ideas put forward by Nimetz during his recent visit to FYROMacedonia.

Crvenkovski-Gruevski meeting aims to set a common position over the roadmap for further pace of the Nimetz-mediated talks on the name issue.

[Astoria]

Kirilica: FYROMacedonia will table its own proposal for name dispute with Greece


8 July 2008 | 20:21 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. The FYROMacedonian representatives in the negotiations between Athens and Skopje for the name dispute – Nikola Dimitrov and Martin Protuger – will head for New York for the next round of talks with a proposal for a solution to the name dispute between the two countries, the FYROMacedonian online edition Kirilica informed, citing anonymous sources from the Office of the FYROMacedonian President Branko Crvenkovski.

The proposal FYROMacedonia would put forward was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting between the FYROMacedonian state leaders.

“The latest proposal of the UN special envoy Matthew Nimitz was acceptable for FYROMacedonia in most of its parts,” the source said.

It is expected that Dimitrov and Protuger will visit New York where they will present the proposal.

[Astoria]

ANA-MPA: Matthew Nimitz to meet Athens and Skopje negotiating teams


8 July 2008 | 21:05 | FOCUS News Agency



Athens/Skopje. Matthew Nimitz will meet Athens and Skopje’s negotiating teams, the Greek ANA-MPA agency reported.

UN special envoy in the name dispute between Greece and FYROMacedonia will confer with Adamantios Vasilakis and Nikola Dimitrov in New York, the Skopje media announced.

The Greek agency informs also about Tuesday’s meeting between the Prime Minister and President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski and Branko Crvenkovski. According to the news agency the meeting had a coordination character and aimed at drafting a joint stance on the development of the negotiations under the aegis of Nimitz.

[Astoria]

A1: Matthew Nimitz sets date for next round of Skopje, Athens talks



8 July 2008 | 21:34 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. Matthew Nimitz, UN envoy in the talks between Athens and Skopje about FYROMacedonia’s name, has set a date for a new round of negotiations, the Macedonian A1 television announced, quoting its own sources.

Nimitz has invited FYROMacedonia and Greece’s representatives to urgently set off for New York. The meeting will reportedly take place by the end of this week. The head of the FYROMacedonian prime minister’s cabinet Martin Protuger will join negotiator Nikola Dimitrov in the talks. It is expected that Nimitz will put forward a new proposal to solve the name dispute.

[Astoria]

Sitel: Northern Republic of Macedonia or Republic of Northern Macedonia is Matthew Nimitz’s latest proposal



8 July 2008 | 22:07 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. Northern Republic of Macedonia or Republic of Northern Macedonia were the two proposals put forward by Matthew Nimitz, UN envoy in the talks between Athens and Skopje. The U.S. diplomat presented them two weeks ago in Skopje, the FYROMacedonian Sitel television informed.

Matthew Nimitz’s proposal reads that the country’s new name has to be internationally used. It will be written in the FYROMacedonian citizens’ passports as well. Nimitz asked that FYROMacedonia should give up its antique past, the television commented. This, according to Sitel, is beyond Skopje’s demands and expectations for the solution to the problem.

[Greece2006]

Originally Posted by Astoria

Sitel: Northern Republic of Macedonia or Republic of Northern Macedonia is Matthew Nimitz’s latest proposal



8 July 2008 | 22:07 | FOCUS News Agency



Skopje. Northern Republic of Macedonia or Republic of Northern Macedonia were the two proposals put forward by Matthew Nimitz, UN envoy in the talks between Athens and Skopje. The U.S. diplomat presented them two weeks ago in Skopje, the FYROMacedonian Sitel television informed.

Matthew Nimitz’s proposal reads that the country’s new name has to be internationally used. It will be written in the FYROMacedonian citizens’ passports as well. Nimitz asked that FYROMacedonia should give up its antique past, the television commented. This, according to Sitel, is beyond Skopje’s demands and expectations for the solution to the problem.

NO WAY!!! Is this a joke. No Northern Macedonia, that is not solving anything. This Nimitz guy should be taken off the case.

[Astoria]

Albania, Croatia Move Closer To NATO As FYROMacedonia Lags


BRUSSELS (AFP)--Albania and Croatia took a major step Wednesday toward North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership, while FYROMacedonia's candidacy remained bogged down in an interminable dispute with Greece over its name.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, ambassadors from the 26 member nations signed accession protocols for Albania and Croatia to become the next members of the world's biggest military alliance.

"It's a good day for Euro-Atlantic security," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. "Albania and Croatia have proven their democratic credentials."

It was unlikely ratification of the protocols by all NATO member countries would pose a problem, he said. And that would set the two Balkans states on the path to joining at the alliance's summit in April next year.

But FYROMacedonia's chances of entering the military club in 2009 receded over a continuing stalemate over Greek demands it change its name.

Greece refuses to recognize the former Yugoslav republic's name because it is the same as that of the northern Greek province of Macedonia. Athens worries this could imply a claim on its territory.

NATO officials nevertheless confirmed FYROMacedonia, like Albania and Croatia, had met the technical requirements needed to join NATO.

Scheffer sought to send Skopje a message of hope.

"There is no enlargement fatigue. Our doors are open and will remain open," he said. "I hope this is a message that will be received loud and clear in Skopje."

"Let us hope that we will see flexibility" from the two sides, he said.

The dispute between Greece and MFYROacedonia has festered since 1991 and also threatens FYROMacedonia's hopes of one day joining the European Union.

In Tirana, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said the move was a boost to the country to continue reforms and contribute to Balkan stability.

"The admission of Albania into NATO is a new political responsibility for Albania, which is determined to continue reforms in order to reach standards of all members of the alliance," Berisha said.

"Committed to respect the state of law, to fight crime and corruption without compromise, Albanian will at the same time be a real factor of peace and stability in the region of the Balkans," he said.