Time to get serious about the name dispute
Macedonia, NATO enlargement and stability in the Western Balkans
Anna Sliwon and Ian Davis
NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rassmussen, visiting the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on 18 June, expressed strong support for the landlocked country’s rapid membership in NATO as well as further efforts at Euro-Atlantic integration through the accession to the European Union (EU). Rassmussen, however, urged the country to solve its dispute with Greece over the official name of FYROM. At a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, he remarked: "At some stage, courageous political decisions will be needed from all sides, so that your country's strategic goal of NATO and EU membership can be achieved".
The FYROM joined the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 1999. The Bucharest Summit Declaration at the beginning of April 2008 acknowledged FYROM’s commitments to NATO’s values and operative activities, as well as the country’s progress in internal reforms. On his visit to Skopje, Rassmussen reiterated Alliance appreciation for Macedonia’s support for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, identifying the country as a “security provider”.
Nevertheless, in 2008 Athens vetoed Skopje’s membership invitation to NATO, on the grounds that the word ‘Macedonia’ in the name of the country would incline the FYROM to make territorial claims over Greece’s own province of the same name - ‘Macedonia’. The Hellenic Republic continues to block the NATO accession efforts of the FYROM.
Resolution of the dispute would also help to brighten the prospects for FYROM’s accession to the EU (which was simultaneously delayed). Whereas the EU enlargement strategy, published by the European Commission on 14October 2009, recommends commencement of accession negotiations with the FYROM (which has held ‘candidate country’ status since December 2005), no progress within the UN-sponsored mediation process to resolve the name dispute appears likely in the short-term.
The bilateral dispute goes deeper than the name recognition issue, with Athens seemingly unwilling to accept an independent nation of Macedonians. The Greek government has accused its counterparts in Skopje of threatening regional stability by refusing to compromise over the name, and in turn Skopje describes Athens as a ‘security risk’ because its strong stance against the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia runs counter to NATO interests in the region. The continuing failure to reach agreement (negotiations have been ongoing for over fifteen years) negatively impacts on NATO and EU enlargement and integration strategies and on efforts to stabilise Macedonia and the Western Balkans.
