Radovan Karadzic, Sarajevo is not your city, and you have no right to say that it is, just as you do not have the right to say in public, even if it’s in court, that someone has dug up bones around Bosnia and brought them to Srebrenica to make a fake graveyard. This is insulting.
Macedonian President Expresses EU Frustration
Skopje | 08 December 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic
During his speech marking the national holiday of 8 December, dedicated to St. Clement of Ohrid, he said that his country will not succum to pressure to change its name and identity in order to be admitted into the bloc.
“Whatever the outcome of the Brussels EU Council these days, Macedonia will continue to exist. We are a strong country that will not cave into pressures and possible injustice,” Ivanov said, noting on the other hand that all parts of society stand behind the country’s EU agenda.
EU foreign ministers are currently meeting to decide whether to extend the country a start date of EU accession talks.
Macedonia’s neighbor and a long term EU member Greece has said it will block any such date unless Macedonia changes its constitutional name. Athens claims the name as a sign of Skopje’s territorial claims towards its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.
Ivanov expressed resentment at the apparent EU’s inability to overcome Greece’s threats to block a start date.
“We are witnessing a Europe struggling to find its own voice. In it there are still leaders who instead of the spirit of a united Europe allow themselves to be guided by petty and short sighted interests,” he said.
EU Ministers failed to come to an agreement over Macedonia in time for a scheduled press conference Monday evening. This, after the European Commission recommend member states give Skopje the desired start date.
The head of the Macedonian opposition, the leader of the Social Democrats, SDSM, and former President Branko Crvenkovski on Monday quickly stepped in to oppose Ivanov’s position by saying that Macedonia has no plan B in case of a prolonged blockade to its EU and NATO entry.
Urging the country’s leaders to solve the issue as soon as possible, he said that any other policy than a swift EU and NATO accession is a “looser option”.
Athens also blocked Macedonia's entry into NATO last year pending a solution to the 18-year-long dispute.
Macedonia on its part refuses to change its name arguing that this would jeopardize its identity and national interests.
Media report that a last ditch effort for overcoming the impasse might be made at the EU Council meeting, but note that the chances for a positive outcome for Macedonia are slim.
2009-12-08 12:51:29