DUI presses Macedonia to compromise with Greece

14/05/2009

Bold DUI rhetoric calling for a compromise with Greece on the name dispute makes some suspect the party is striving to boost its ratings before its November congress.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 14/05/09

The name dispute has dragged on for 17 years. [File]

The mostly Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) -- a coalition partner of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE -- is pressing Macedonia to compromise with Greece.

Up to now, DUI and the other ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia have generally supported government strategies to preserve Macedonia's name.

DUI leader Ali Ahmeti met with newly elected President Gjorge Ivanov after the local and presidential elections last month. They jointly issued a statement that said "National unity is needed, as well as a reasonable compromise, for a solution to the differences about the name with Greece."

Ivanov did not explain exactly what he meant by compromise but underlined "we are not talking about changing the name."

Leading DUI officials have been arguing this year that a settlement would foster Macedonia's NATO membership and EU integration.

DUI officials have told A1 TV the unofficial deadline DUI has set for a "compromise" will be the September elections in Greece.

DUI official Teuta Arifi said the party would encourage VMRO-DPMNE to hold a constructive debate on a timely solution to the squabble because "coalition partners should listen to one another."

While party spokesman and parliament Deputy Speaker Rafiz Aliti said DUI "party structures will decide" whether to leave the government if their expectations go unmet, Arifi put an end to such speculation by saying "the party is not debating that question" but is open to debating government policies.

Imer Ismaili -- professor and contributor to Albanian RTSh TV and Koha Ditore -- told Radio Free Europe that DUI has assumed the role within the governing coalition of subtly pressuring Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski into compromising on Macedonia's name.

However, analyst Slobodan Casule expressed doubt earlier this year that the name change will take place anytime soon, if ever. For him, "more realistic are the discussions in NATO on how to prevent the abuse of NATO and its basic values, in this case by Greece and Slovenia towards Macedonia and Croatia."

VMRO-DPMNE said it fully agrees that Macedonia's priority is to enter NATO. A party official told A1 TV that VMRO-DPMNE is "ready to discuss with everybody, especially with a coalition partner" and welcomes all meaningful and constructive suggestions.

VMRO-DPMNE has unofficially told A1 TV that DUI is trying to "raise its price and [to achieve] a higher rating among voters" before the party congress scheduled for November.

Consequently, the DUI leadership met in Mala Rechica on April 26th to strategise a change of course. The Albanian opposition New Democracy Party and Democratic Party of Albanians have increasingly put DUI on the defensive by claiming publicly that DUI is unable to deliver on its promises of diplomatic relations with Kosovo and implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.