A win for diplomacy – the Republic of North Macedonia
Greece’s relations with its north-eastern neighbour have been dominated by dispute. More concretely by a name dispute. Reaching back to the early 20th century, the quarrel escalated when Macedonia gained independence in the breakup of Yugoslavia, of which it was a republic. Since then, the country is usually referred to as ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ or ‘FYROM’. However, it was always highlighted that this was an interim reference rather than the actual name of the small country to allow international dealings with its government.
Athens is basing its concerns on history and geography: the northern region of Macedonia in Greece is bordering the eponymous country. The Greek government claims that the same name in conjunction with the Macedonian constitution could result in territorial claims by Skopje. This so-called irredentist content could aim to unify the territory of ethnic Macedonians which surpasses the national border between the two countries.
The name dispute has prevented Macedonia from joining both the European Union (EU) as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as Greece is a member of both and would regularly deny accession without the name issue having been resolved.
Athen’s policy of blockade even caused a case at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ found Skopje to be right that Greece indeed was breaching a treaty both countries had signed in 1995 to enable relations and attempts to find a solution to the name dispute. The ICJ, however, did not rule Greece to abstain from future equal behaviour. It simply recognised Athens violating the so-called Interim Accord.
In 2009, bilateral as well as international mediating efforts seemed close to a solution already as some representatives on both sides stated the name of ‘Northern Macedonia’ would be a possible compromise—so similar to what has now been chosen, almost a decade later.
The main obstacle to a diplomatic solution have proven to be the changing governments on both sides. Some political parties have been more interested and willing to find a solution, while especially nationalist parties in both Athens and Skopje have been rejecting any form of compromise.
In February 2018, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had already proposed four different names (Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Upper Macedonia, Republic of Vardar Macedonia and Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)), which already featured the now agreed upon version.
An earlier suggestion brought forward in May by Skopje was ‘Republic of Ilinden Macedonia’ but revoked by Greece arguing that the name would need a geographical indication rather than a cultural reference. Ilinden refers to an uprising against the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the last century.
Now, in June 2018, historic agreement has finally been reached. With negotiations taking place on highest level between the countries, on June 17 the Prespa Agreement was signed by the countries’ Foreign Ministers after both Prime Minister had agreed a couple of days prior that henceforth the country of Macedonia should be referred to as the Republic of North Macedonia. Macedonian continues to be used to describe the language, and citizens will still be referred to as Macedonians.
While the parliament in Skopje passed the historic deal, not everyone agrees with it: for once, Macedonia’s president opposes the deal, and many citizens—ironically in both countries—feel betrayed as they expressed their dissatisfaction during protests last week, which eventually even turned violent.
With parliament having passed the agreement, the next test is in sight: a referendum in North Macedonia will allow the citizens to have a say. Until then continuing confidence-building measures should be taking place, such as renaming provocative infrastructure including the Skopje airport and the highway leading from Skopje to Athens, statues picturing Greek ancient historic figures in Skopje have been removed or renamed already.
Macedonia is part of the strategy on enlargement of the EU in regards to the Western Balkans—with the name dispute solved, accession talks are set to begin now, as EU Foreign Ministers agreed this week. Although some EU member states seemed more reluctant to offer membership to Macedonia than others: France, the Netherlands and Denmark wanted to see more reforms tackling corruption and steps taken towards fighting organised crime before the door to talks should be opened.
Moving forward is also on the NATO agenda, here though without restraints. It is to be expected that General Secretary Stoltenberg will formally invite the government in Skopje to join the alliance at the NATO summit in Brussels next month.
Photo credit: Flickr User Amtec Staffing
