Pressure growing for Macedonia name compromise

Western pressure is growing for Macedonia and Greece to accept a compromise over their 17-year-long name dispute, which has prevented the small nation from joining NATO and advancing on its path to EU integration.

A proposal by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz to rename the small republic ‘Northern Macedonia’ coincided with a visit of US Defence Secretary Robert Gate to the Macedonian city of Ohrid where he urged the country to resolve its dispute with Greece if it wanted to join NATO. 

Nimetz is said to have requested a response by 24 October, according to press reports. 

The Greek press reported that the essence of the compromise, tabled by Nimetz, a US diplomat, involved using the name ‘Republic of Northern Macedonia’ in international fora, while the constitutional name ‘Macedonia’ could be used internally and in bilateral relations with countries, recognising this constitutional name. 

Previously, such a compromise had been accepted by Greece but not by Macedonia, which is apparently now showing more flexibility. 

Officially, both sides abstained from commenting on the Nimetz proposal, with most observers considering the silence as a positive sign. 

In the meantime, Macedonia and another former Yugoslav republic, Montenegro, recognised Kosovo’s independence on Thursday (9 October), prompting angry reactions in Serbia. 50 countries have so far recognised Kosovo since the former Serbian province declared independence in February. 

Macedonia and Montenegro have been under US pressure to recognise Kosovo for several months now. In the meantime, Serbia warned its two neighbours that such a move would be seen as a “stab in the back”. Facing hostility both from Greece and Serbia is too much of a challenge for small landlocked Macedonia, diplomats said. 

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