Macedonian leaders discuss UN mediator's proposals in name dispute

20/03/2008

The latest developments in Macedonia's name dispute with Greece were the focus of a series of talks Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski held on Wednesday, as part of efforts to avoid a possible Greek veto of Skopje's NATO membership bid in early April.

(Makfax - 20/03/08; AP, Bloomberg, MIA, Makfax, Balkan Insight, US Embassy in Skopje - 19/03/08; Reuters, ANA-MPA, Makfax - 18/03/08)

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. [Getty Images]

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski held a series of meetings with key political players on Wednesday (March 19th) to discuss UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz's latest proposals, aimed at resolving the name dispute with Greece. Failure to reach a solution before the start of NATO's three-day summit in Bucharest on April 2nd could cost Macedonia an invitation to join the Alliance.

Greece, a NATO member since 1952, has threatened to block its northern neighbour's membership bid unless it changes its name. Athens opposes international recognition of the name Macedonia, arguing it implies territorial claims on a northern Greek province with the same name.

Instead, Greece refers to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM); most international organisations officially do so as well. More than 120 states, however, recognise the Balkan nation by its constitutional name, the Republic of Macedonia.

Nimetz has offered a number of proposals in recent months in a bid to help the two countries reach a compromise before the NATO summit, but all have been rejected by one or the other side.

During a meeting with Greek and Macedonian negotiators, Adamantios Vassilakis and Nikola Dimitrov, in Vienna on Monday, the UN mediator tabled three new name proposals -- Republic of Upper Macedonia, New Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Macedonia (Skopje).

The Macedonian government is said to view Nimetz's latest proposals as unacceptable. Officials say they had been proposed previously and were rejected.

Speaking after Gruevski's two-hour meeting with President Branko Crvenkovski, which was also attended by Dimitrov, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said Macedonia "will continue to participate actively" in the UN-mediated negotiations.

Ahead of more talks next week in New York, Milososki is scheduled to discuss the name issue Friday with Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis in Brussels. That session reportedly will be hosted by US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried.

Prior to his talks with Crvenkovski, Gruevski held separate meetings with the leaders of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), the Democratic Union for Integration and the main opposition Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM) to brief them on the latest developments.

The DPA, which recently left the ruling coalition over disagreements with Gruevski, offered its full support to the government regarding both the name dispute and the country's NATO membership. DPA leader Menduh Thaci said these issues are priorities and everyone should offer their support to guarantee positive outcomes.

Commenting on the DPA's decision to leave the ruling coalition, Thaci said he was fully aware of the importance of this action, but said his party would not reverse its decision.

SDSM head Radmila Sekerinska said at the meeting Skopje should make every effort to secure an invitation to join NATO during the Bucharest summit.