Macedonia-Greece Name Dispute Eclipsed by Euro Crisis

Gerald Knaus, head of the European Stability Initiative, ESI, a multi-national research and policy institute told Macedonian media that the Euro crisis had distracted attention from the name issue in Greece as well as among European countries that would otherwise like to help.

In a situation when “everybody fears that government in Athens will fall” due to the economic turmoil there “no one will now make pressure on this country” Knaus said.

“At this point there will be no progress” in resolving the dispute, Knaus added.

Greece’s foreign minister Lambrinidis has used his stay in New York to try to persuade other countries that Greece has the strength to overcome the crisis. He said his country won’t abandon the Euro zone because of the downturn.

Yesterday, the long standing “name” dispute was discussed on the sidelines of the ongoing annual UN General Assembly in New York.

The Macedonian Prime Minister, who is present there, met with the UN mediator in the talks aimed at resolving the issue, US diplomat Matthew Nimetz.

Previously, the same day Greek and Macedonian foreign Ministers, Stavros Lambrinidis and Nikola Poposki held a 30-minute conversation on East River.

But except for reiterating both parties’ already well-known stances, nothing substantial is understood to have been put on the table. No new compromise name proposals and initiatives were put forward.

After the meetings, representatives from the Macedonian government said it was mutually accepted during the conversations that “good will” and a “positive approach” would lead to a solution of the long standing dispute.

Athens and Skopje have been locked in a 20-year- long dispute over the name Macedonia. Greece argues that Macedonia’s name implies territorial claims against its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

Because of the dispute, Greece blocked Macedonia’s invitation to join NATO in 2008. The following year, Greece also prevented European Ministers from setting a date for start of Macedonia’s EU accession talks, despite a repeated recommendation from the European Commission.

Both of Macedonia’s bids for NATO and EU membership will likely remain frozen until a resolution to the dispute with Greece is found.