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Greece and Macedonia resume negotiations over naming dispute

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Greece and Macedonia resume negotiations over naming dispute

macedonia-name-change
macedonia-name-change
Photo: Reuters

Today, Greece and Macedonia will resume negotiations over the nearly three decades old dispute regarding the latter’s name. Although it styles itself as the “Republic of Macedonia,” the UN will recognise it as the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” until the dispute is resolved.

Greece claims that “Macedonia” is an appropriation of Greek culture, especially since most of historical Macedon lays inside the borders of the Greek province of Macedonia. Although Greece has deepened its economic and political ties with Macedonia in the past decade, it still blocks its neighbour’s accession to NATO and the EU over the dispute.

But with over 100 countries, including the US, recognising the “Republic of Macedonia,” Greece has quickly become isolated internationally on the issue and is losing much of its leverage over its neighbour. Both Athens and Skopje are more eager to negotiate than their nationalistic predecessors, and seem to be converging on the compromise name “New Macedonia.”

Slowly but surely the two countries are reconciling, paving the way for an additional EU and NATO member in the foreseeable future.

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View Comments (5)
  • " New Macedonia " is propaganda that is re-laid to the media by politicians who withhold the official name.
    Greek politicians, Greek military Generals and 90% of Greeks oppose in gifting the name "Macedonia"
    What is been negotiated between Athens and Skopje is " Central Balkan Republic"
    With the approval of the USA and NATO this is what Tsipras and Zaev will most likely approve.

      • There will be zero tolerance with FYROM. If Zaev wanted to mend relations with Greece he would have announced the demolition of the grotesque Italian made Hellenic reproduction statues that litter the FYROM landscape, the renaming of the airport in Skopje, the renaming of the highway, the renaming of the football stadium, the removal of the repulsive Baroque Hellenic style facades, the correcting of school carriculum, the removal of the Hellenic symbol on the national flag, the removal of all greater Macedonia maps from government institutions and a heartfelt apology to the nation of Greece for his nation being vile for the last two and a half decades. Cultural theft cannot be forgiven easily. Actions speak louder than words. Greeks do not want to hear politicians trying new age diplomacy that they learnt in their political science classes. Dimitrov, Šekerinska, Zaevand all the Slavic Fyromians currently running FYROM are just as dogmatic about an exclusivity of the name as the Gruevski ultra nationalists. There is no scope for negotiation with these antiques. Greece is the victim here. Our history has been hijacked by Fyromian Slavs. Leave our history alone. It’s not a good fit for you. You cannot pronounce nor read the Ancient inscriptions for they are in Greek. If FYROM wants exclusivity to the name Macedonia they will have to change their official language to Greek for this corresponds with the Ancient Macedonian language. We Greeks embrace everyone as a Hellene as long as they speak Greek. You cannot have Bulgarian speaking Slavs of FYROM claiming they are Antiques. It’s ridiculous.
        Sekerinska can sit around bagging the VMRO for their crimes but she is just as bad. She claims she is a Slav and a non Antique and in the same breath attacks Greece for not recognizing FYROM. I thought that her hair incident would have knocked some sense into her. Dimitrov has also had a go at it. The fool was part of the negotiation team under Gruevski. He failed miserably because he too will never give up the name. These Slavs are like a dog with a bone but in their case the bone is plastic and has zero marrow.
        They know what they have to do and it will never happen. The constitutional name will not change because the antiquated population of FYROM will never vote for it. They have had way too many history lessons from Milenko Nedelkovski. The vile sneaky tactics of attempting to be admitted to NATO and the EU under their provisional FYROM name won’t work either. They are fruitless attempts at diplomacy that not only waste time but also soak up tax payers efforts. Think twice FYROM before attempting negotiations with the Greeks on their history. The Albanian, Roma and Turkish birth rate is twice that of the Slavs. While you lot are busy fixating about exclusivity of your name and your antique culture the non Slavic population of FYROM will become a majority group within their ancient wonderland. The last census was in 2001, these so called minority groups were are 35% collectively. I would hate to think what they are at now. 16 years of fertile breeding has to be worrying for the new government. Back off our history you deluded farm animals.

        • It’s good that you don’t even try to hide your fascist Golden Dawn inclinations. They’re especially visible when you talk about populations "out breeding" one another or in your references to the people of the Republic of Macedonia as "farm animals". Greek ultra-nationalists such as yourself have only one aim in mind: wiping Macedonia and its people off the map of the world. And you have the nerve to refer to yourself as a victim?

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