Macedonia Hails Obama Amid ‘Name’ Woes

Skopje_ Macedonian officials have welcomed Barack Obama’s victory in the US Presidential election saying they do not expect a shift in Washington’s policy in the ‘name’ row with Greece.

The speaker of Macedonia’s parliament Trajko Veljanovski said that the fact the first African-American was voted into the position of Commander-in-Chief shows that in developed countries nothing should present an obstacle to the presidency.

Veljanovski spoke in the early hours of Wednesday at a US embassy event in Skopje that gathered numerous officials and diplomats. Veljanovski added that he hoped these “historic” elections will not cause a major shift in United States foreign policy towards Macedonia.

“This US election sends a clear message that they have overcome all racial, religious and ethnic prejudices. That is a great message to all multi-ethnic countries and the democratic world showing that it is values that matter, instead of which community one belongs to,” said Rafiz Aliti from the Democratic Union for Integration, the ethnic Albanian partner in the government.

The European Union’s ambassador in Skopje, Erwan Fouere said these elections “are a very strong demonstration of the great power of American democracy.”

Meanwhile Silvana Boneva, a lawmaker from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party said she expects that “the US policy for the Balkans will remain the same.”

“The US has invested a lot in the stability of the region and I am convinced that we will see a continuity of that policy,” she said.

The US ambassador to Macedonia Philip Reeker reiterated that “the US and Macedonia have strong ties and as I have said many times before Macedonia does not have a better friend than the US and that will continue to be the case.”

Vlado Buckovski, a former Macedonia Prime Minister and opposition lawmaker said Obama’s victory would bring major changes to the region as well as elsewhere.

However there was scepticism too.

Macedonians viewed the US election mainly through the prism of the ongoing dispute with neighbouring Greece over their country’s name.

Greece has blocked Macedonia’s bid to join NATO and threatens to do the same at the EU if Skopje does not stop using the name ‘Republic of Macedonia.’ Athens argues Skopje’s use of the name implies it territorial claims to the Greek province of the same name.

Macedonians had largely sided with Obama’s Republican rival John McCain fearing that Obama will shift Washington’s policy against Macedonia because he has signed a US non-binding resolution on the name issue which was pro-Greek.

However, while some Macedonians were worried about the effect Obama`s administration will have on the name row, others welcomed the move.

“It is great that he won and I hope he will manage to change the world,” says middle-aged hairdresser, Milka Dimitrovska Vlaisavljevic.