Macedonia Looks to Africa, Middle East for Name Support

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe last week during the EU-Africa summit in Tripoli, Libya.

Mr Gruevski's meeting with Mr Mugabe, who is considered a dictator in both Brussels and Washington, was reported on Zimbabwean news Web sites but only briefly mentioned in Macedonia.

Mr Mugabe and his aides are currently subject to a travel ban and asset freezes by the EU and the US, which have accused him of violating basic civil and human rights. His presence at the summit was condemned as "appalling" by EU officials.

Macedonia also supported Syria in voting for a UN resolution calling on Israel to leave the Golan Heights, even though all EU member states abstained. The move was seen as a sign of gratitude for Syria's recognition of the country under its constitutional name the 'Republic of Macedonia'.

Athens and Skopje have been locked in the dispute over the use of the name Macedonia for almost two decades.

Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province, also called Macedonia.

In 2008, Greece blocked Macedonia’s NATO accession pending a solution to the dispute. Athens is also blocking Skopje from getting a start date for its EU accession talks, despite positive recommendations from the European Commission.

"Macedonia cannot understand that support in Zimbabwe or Syria is not going to help," said Stevo Pendarovski, a former counselor for national security for two Macedonian presidents and now a professor of political science.

He added that Macedonia, as an EU candidate, is required to subscribe to all EU external and security policy positions.

His opinion is not shared by all those in power in Macedonia. Risto Nikovski, a member of Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov's Council for Foreign Policy, said in an interview for A1 TV that Mr Mugabe and Bashar al-Assad were dictators but are more important to Macedonia than the EU and NANTO.

"We have to take care of our interests. We are being blackmailed on the name issue," said Mr Nikovski.

When challenged over governance methods in Syria and Zimbabwe, Mr Nikovski said internal policies in those countries were irrelevant in this context.

"I don't know why Gruevski met with Mugabe but I don't see why he couldn't do it. If Zimbabwe recognises us under the constitutional name, Macedonia has to show its good will. We have only one priority – the name issue," said Mr Nikovski.