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[Hellenicoz]

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Rebuffs “Name” Referendum Claims
Skopje | 09 October 2009


The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's government on Friday rebuffed media claims that it is considering holding a referendum that would ask citizens whether they would accept their country's speedy entry into the EU and NATO in exchange for changing the state’s constitutional name.

This is “fiction”, and “has nothing to do with reality” the government wrote in a media statement.


On Thursday, the Vest newspaper published an article quoting an “unnamed diplomat” saying: ''FYROM will change its name if it gets a firm promise and a date for entry into the EU and NATO.''



The daily also said that the government is considering holding a referendum asking the public whether they “support EU and NATO entrance under the name Northern Republic of Macedonia”.


Since its independence in the early 1990s Greece has insisted that FYROM changes its constitutional name Republic of Macedonia. Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession because of the row and has threatened to do the same with Skopje’s EU accession process pending a solution.


Some local media suspect that the article in Vest was planted as a way for the government to check public opinion.

In the ongoing UN sponsored negotiations seeking a solution to the name dispute, Athens has insisted FYROM adopt a compound name with a geographic qualifier such as “Northern” that would make a distinction between the state and the Greek province.


Skopje argues that a name change would be tantamount to changing the country’s identity.


FYROM’s main ruling party, the centre right VMRO DPMNE, in its election platform for last year’s parliamentary elections said it will hold a referendum on the name issue if the country strikes a deal with Greece.

[Hellenicoz]

Foreign Investors Shun The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia (FYROM)
Skopje | 08 October 2009


The government is silent after FYROM's National Bank, NBM, announced that foreign investment in the country has effectively collapsed.



FYROM experienced a diminution of foreign investment in July, when overseas companies reaped profits while failing to contribute via new investments. Some 80 million euros exited the country in this way, NBM data shows.


"This is because of the large number of dividends payed to foreign accounts,” NBM’s Georgi Gockov told reporters.


In comparison, at the end of July 2008, the country had seen 270 million euros in foreign investments for the year. Now the figure is three times lower, data shows.


As the money pours out, local analysts are urging the government to immediately change its strategy for attracting investors.


Over the last year the government has sent promotors of investment to embassies, cut various administrative procedures and taxes and spent money advertising the country as an attractive business destination.


While making improvements in its overall business climate, the country must also work to eliminate political risks as well, analysts note. They add that the global recession is not the sole reason for the negative investment trend.


“We also have an unfavourable political situation. The unresolved name problem" with Greece has stalled the country’s NATO accession, Simon Avramovski, from consultancy Point Pro, explains.


Most analysts predict that the situation will not change and that, by the end of the year, FYROM will have had more money pouring out than entering through investments.


Last year, FYROM saw marked economic growth of more than five per cent, with around half a billion euros in foreign investments. Now, the country is officially in recession, following two consecutive quarters of negative growth.


However, the government is still convinced that the country will experience less than a one per cent drop in GDP.

[Hellenicoz]

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) embroiled in encyclopaedia row
Published: Tuesday 13 October 2009

EU candidate country FYROM has removed a controversial encyclopaedia from libraries after the manual triggered furious reactions from EU members Greece and Bulgaria as well as neighbouring Kosovo and Albania. The reason behind the removal was strong pressure from the US and the UK, diplomats told EurActiv.

Following angry reactions, including the burning of the FYROM flag in Kosovo, the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Art (MANU) recently decided to remove its recently published two-volume, 1,671-page work, the 'Macedonian Encyclopaedia'.

The work has managed to offend most of FYROM's neighbours. Greece, which is pressing FYROM to change its name because it coincides with that of the northernmost Greek province, considers that Skopje is misappropriating large chunks of its ancient history.

Similarly, Bulgaria considers that FYROM is cherry-picking heroes and glorious episodes from its 19th and early 20th century struggle against Ottoman domination.

But those most offended this time were the Kosovars and the ethnic Albanian population of FYROM itself, as MANU refers to ethnic Albanians as "settlers" who came to the country in the 16th century and to Albanians as 'Shiptari' or 'Planinci', which has derogatory connotations. The Albanians are widely recognised as the descendants of ancient Illiryan tribes, who settled in those lands in approximately 1,000 BC.

The authors also claim that the ethnic Albanian movement in FYROM, the National Liberation Army, was trained by US and British special forces in 2001, and that ethnic Albanian leader Ali Ahmeti, now leader of the Democratic Union for the Integration of FYROM, is suspected of war crimes. In fact, Ahmeti has never been indicted. Both the US and UK embassies have rejected the information as "false" and "ridiculous".

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha called the book "absurd and unacceptable" and complained of "identity based on the forgery of history".

Bulgarian and Greek leaders kept a low profile, but according to diplomats, the encyclopaedia has infuriated both Athens and Sofia.

The Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje issued a statement saying that the content of the Macedonian Encyclopedia had the single purpose of collecting political dividends.

"It is unacceptable for a country aspirant for NATO and EU membership to resort to terminology typical for the ideology of the Cold War era," the statement says.

Skopje, meawhile, was apparently less concerned about the reactions in Athens and Sofia. The ambassador of an EU country told EurActiv that in fact it was pressure from the USA and the UK which convinced Skopje to back down and remove the book from the shelves.

MANU published a press release promising to convene an extraordinary assembly that will focus on reactions, remarks and suggestions related to the encyclopaedia.

[Hellenicoz]

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Encyclopedia regarding Greece
Australian Macedonian Advisory Council

September 29, 2009

The "Thema" newspaper in Greece has revealed the new provocation released in the so-called "Macedonian" Encyclopedia, which has written at the behest of the extreme-right Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, and the historians of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Skopje (presented by Mr. Gruevski himself with all solemnity on 16 September) . The two-volume work of 1671 pages (the version of which was financed by public funds of the neighbouring country), according to Mr. Gruevski expresses "the cultural and political past and our present"; but not only does the Skopje government attempt to rewrite history region at will, but it consciously alters key elements of the worldwide accepted Greek national status.

Specifically, on page 67 of the encyclopedia and under the word "Greek" it states that "recent research has shown that the Greek nation as having been descended from black African tribes of the Sahara desert"!

The 260 FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) historians and revisionists note that the Greeks (with different cultural backgrounds), were influenced by the local appropriating Balkan cultures, which were advanced and these influences were then shown as Greek achievements, disregarding the worldwide accepted perception about Ancient Greece.

The unprecedented provocation of the FYROM government goes so far as to claim that the Greek culture as result of counterfeiting and intercepting other cultures, while not hesitating to seize the historic Parthenon and even the Homeric epics: "Even the epics of Homer and the Parthenon is not the result of Greek culture, but as result of counterfeiting, adoption and even interception of these local indigenous cultures such as ours, Macedonian"!

The new methodology of Skopje is totally unacceptable, and there has not yet been any reaction from the Greek Foreign Ministry - this time not as a result of political unacceptable compliance applied systematically to national issues in recent years, but because this issue has apparently gone noticed! At the same time when this particular case has received international condemnation from the United States, Great Britain, Albania and Bulgaria! The Greek administration must now also condemn this new provocation from FYROM, and firmly express the fact that continuous provocations can only harm FYROM´s NATO and EU aspirations.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/121151

[Hellenicoz]

Athens 1 October 2009.

http://i38.tinypic.com/2mi0zyf.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/4u2zq4l.gifhttp:/ ... u2zq4l.gif

New York, 29 September 2009:

I.C.A.O.(International Civil Aviation Organization) announced the exclusive copyrights of M.I.G., a Greek airline company, over the name "Macedonian Airlines".

Andreas Vgenopoulos, the heir of M.I.G. company, said that his company now holds the exclusive rights of the name "Macedonian Airlines" and M.I.G is the only authorized airline company who can use the term "Macedonian Airlines" worldwide. Thus, Andreas Vgenopoulos via M.I.G. has the legal right to demand from any other countries or companies to renounce the use of the name "Macedonian Airlines" for their airlines brand names if he wants so. Countries including FYROM can be forced to renounce any use of the name Macedonian Airlines if M.I.G send a request for this to I.C.A.O.

MIG΄s head Andreas Vgenopoulos said Thursday that Olympic Air may relaunch in the near future Macedonian Airlines.

Speaking after Olympic Air΄s inaugural flight in Thessaloniki, Vgenopoulos mentioned that Olympic Air holds the exclusive international rights to the Macedonian Airlines brand name.

The company will be up-and-running in the coming two or three months while its first routes will include Germany and Amsterdam.

Macedonian Airlines was created in 1992 as the charter subsidiary of the Greek national airline, Olympic Airways.

Until 2003, Macedonian΄s fleet was also used on OA scheduled services.

On December 12, 2003, due to the mounting problems of the Olympic Airways Group, a restructuring plan was formed. Macedonian Airlines was separated from the Group, renamed Olympic Airlines and took over all the data and flight operations of Olympic Airways.

Greece awaits for FYROM's reaction to the new events. FYROM uses the name Macedonian Airlines, however, without having the copyrights, for its national airlines branch based on Skopje, FYROM. The recognition of the international copyrights by ICAO to Vgenopoulos' M.I.G. is estimated to create anger within FYROM.

Many newspapers & sites worldwide about this:

"Macedonian Airlines by M.I.G!"
http://www.enet.gr/?...ellada&id=87632

"Macedonia is... Olympic!"
http://www.ethnos.gr...2&pubid=6586895

"M.I.G. establishes Macedonian Airlines"
http://www.tanea.gr/...1&artId=4539043

MIG holds the international copyright of the Macedonian Airlines:
http://www.nooz.gr/p...d=320955&cid=15


English Capital News: "MIG To Relaunch Macedonian Airlines" :
http://english.capit...s.asp?id=824234

"MIG kept the name "Macedonian Airlines":
http://www.grreporte...tional_use/1300

[Hellenicoz]

Greece Conditions EU Entry on Name Resolution
Skopje | 15 October 2009


The only way for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to join the EU is through settling its name row with Greece, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas confirmed in a press statement.

Droutsas was commenting on the positive progress report FYROM received from the European Commission on Wednesday, in which the start of FYROM-EU accession talks was proposed.


Drougas noted that, although his country supports the swift entry of all western Balkans countries into the EU, this support is not unconditional.


“With regard to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in particular, this means finding a solution on the name issue”, Droutsas said, using Macedonia’s provisional appelation at the UN.

The Athens-Skopje name row has been lingered for 18 years, seriously hampering Skopje's efforts to achieve its top strategic priorities: entry into the EU and NATO.


Last year, Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO membership bid, arguing that its neighbour must first change its formal name, Republic of Macedonia, which clashes with that of a northern Greek province. Athens argues that this name indicates that Skopje is making claims on Greek territory.


FYROM's observers fear that Greece could use its influence in the EU to block their country's entry into the bloc.


On Wednesday, FYROM received the desired recommendation, but not a date for the start of its EU accession talks. If the long-standing name row is resolved soon, some analysts argue that a date for the start of EU-FYROM negotiations could be set in December by the EU Council.

However, all 27 EU member states, including Greece, would have to approve this move.

[Hellenicoz]

SOLUTION TO NAME PROBLEM:

New Official UN & Constitutional Names:

Name of Country: Republic of North Makedonia (Република Северна Македонија)
Name of UN Code: NMK
Name for identity of Nationality of citizens: North Makedonian (Северна Македонија)
Name for identity of countries largest ethnic group: North Makedonian (Северна Македонија)
Name for identity of language: North Makedonian (Северна Македонија)
Name for identity of religion: North Makedonian Orthodox (Северна Македонската православна)

Greece must exept & support the "Republic of North Makedonia" in Nato & EU membership

[Hellenicoz]

Slav Macedonians recognising the truth in 2009

Here are some official clips on FYROM TV of slavs recognising that they have no
connection with the Ancient Macedonians of GREECE

Hopefully this trend will continue.


Ljubèo Georgievski Blasts Pseudomacedonism by Using Powerful Insight [17-VI-2009

[Hellenicoz]

Serbia Declares FYROM-Kosovo Border Agreement Void
World | October 18, 2009, Sunday


The Serbian government does not recognize the agreement signed between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Kosovo for the resolving of the two state’s border dispute.

“The signing of this agreement is useless because FYROM will have to negotiate with Belgrade on that issue,” said Oliver Ivanovic, State Secretary of Serbia’s Foreign Ministry, as quoted by BGNES.

In his words, FYROM and Kosovo signed the agreement under pressure by foreigners who did not account for the fact that this may worsen the already complex relations between Serbia and FYROM.

Earlier on Sunday the Foreign Ministries of FYROM and Kosovo announced the resolution of the bilateral border dispute, and the establishing of diplomatic relations.

Serbia has not recognized Kosovo’s independence, and is considering it part of its territory.

[Hellenicoz]

EU Urges FYROM To Speed Name Talks
Skopje | 23 October 2009

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has six weeks and a day, till the EU Council meets, to promote its name talks with Greece and secure a date for the start of EU accession talks, bloc representatives in the country say.

“Take advantage of every hour, every day, every week and put maximum efforts into finding a solution to the dispute with Greece until December,” the EU ambassador to FYROM, Erwan Fouere, told a session of FYROM’s National Council for European Integration onThursday.

The Swedish ambassador to FYROM, Lars Freden, concurred in his own comments on the December EU Council meeting. Sweden currently holds the EU's rotating Presidency

Referring to this month’s positive European Commission, EC, report, which recommended the start of accession talks, and the change in power in Greece, which is seen as a positive for the name negotiations, Fouere said that “we now have a positive atmosphere that has to continue, and this is the best moment to find a final solution for the row with Greece”.

The EC report's support for FYROM's EU integration talks was tempered by the authors' advising Skopje to solve the spat with Greece as soon as possible.

Last year, Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession and threatened a second veto on FYROM's EU accession process if the country refused to change its name, Republic of Macedonia. Athens believes this appellation implies that Skopje is making territorial claims on the northern Greek province of Macedonia.

So far, the authorities in Skopje have sufficed by reiterating that they remain commited to UN-sponsored talks on the issue.

However, some local observers say that more positive moves to rebuild trust and set the tone for movement towards a resolution of the dispute are required.

[Hellenicoz]

Rehn Advises Against Name Referendum
EC, Brussels, Skopje, Athens | 22 October 2009


Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn says that he does not favour public referendum on an agreement to end the Greek-FYROM name dispute.


“This may cause problems for [the] EU accession process, which is already complicated enough”, Rehn said, referring to the potential plebiscites.

In ongoing UN-sponsored negotiations to settle the dispute, Athens has insisted that FYROM adopt a compound name with a geographic qualifier, such as Northern, that would make a distinction between its Balkan neighbour and a northern Greek province.

Skopje argues that a name change would be tantamount to changing the country’s identity. FYROM’s main ruling party, the centre-right VMRO-DPMNE, in its 2008 election platform, said it would hold a referendum on the name issue if the country strikes a deal with Greece.

Unnamed diplomats in FYROM have told a local television station that Skopje is considering making concessions on the naming issue sometime in 2010 in order to avoid a Greek veto on the country's receiving a date for the start of EU accession talks.

On Thursday, Rehn discussed the enlargement prospects of western Balkans states and Turkey in a seminar organised by a Brussels-based think-thank, the European Policy Centre.

In the seminar, he appealed to the FYROM government to use the positive opportunity afforded by the European Commission, EC, recommendation that the country's EU accesion negotiations begin.

Rehn said that there is significant "momentum now" to resolve the name dispute "because in both countries, we have governments with rather strong mandates, and I hope they will use the opportunity”.

The commissioner also welcomed the FYROM-Kosovo border demarcation agreement signed over the weekend, noting that FYROM is the “first country in the region with no open border questions”.

[Hellenicoz]

Kiro Gligorov, Former President of FYROM, Demands a Compromise With Greece [22-III-2009]
March 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment


Excerpt from the interview of Kiro Gligorov, a veteran politician in Ex-Yugoslavia and former President of FYROM, given to A1’s Biljana Sekulovska. Mr. Gligorov urges for compromise with Greece with regard to the name dispute based on principles of reciprocal respect for interests.



http://vardaraxios.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... -iii-2009/

If Mitsotakis wouldn't fell from the government in 1993 he and Gligorov would have sign the treaty and accepted the Slavo Macedonia or Nova Macedonia and both our nations would have burried the axes and hatredliving in peace.

The stupid Macedoniansm would have ended there instead of torturing the people of FYROM with their schizophrenic theories and hatred toward Greece and Bulgaria.

[Hellenicoz]

FYROM & Greece's PMs Met Thursday
Skopje, Athens, Brussels | 29 October 2009


The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Premier Nikola Gruevski held a short informal meeting with his new Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, on Thursday in Brussels.


The parlay, which took place on the sidelines of an EU Council meeting, was expected to focus on the countries' name dispute, but both leaders left after the meeting without addressing reporters so this was impossible to confirm as of Thursday evening.

The Greek prime minister reportedly proposed the meeting during a telephone conversation with Gruevski on Wednesday, in which the FYROM leader congratulated Papandreou on his October 4 election victory and assumption of the prime minister's post.

The previous Greek government blocked NATO's issuance of an invitation to Macedonia to become a full pact membership and threatened to veto Skopje's EU accession process.

Athens insists that Skopje’s formal name, Republic of Macedonia implies that its neighbour is making territorial claims on a northern Greek province.

The election of the Papandreou government has raised hopes for a possible breakthrough. The negotiations on the name dispute are ongoing under UN auspices.

In a joint press conference on Wednesday, Gruevski and his host, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, expressed hope that the dispute would be resolved shortly.

Earlier this month, the European Commission recommended the start of FYROM’s EU accession talks. Efforts are now being made to resolve the name dispute before December’s EU Council meeting, in which FYROM hopes to secure a firm date for start of EU negotiations.

For that to happen, all 27 EU member states, including Greece, will have to vote in favour. Athens has confirmed that this will depend on the resolution of the name spat.

[Hellenicoz]

Ghosts of the Past Endanger FYROM’s Future
Skopje, Tetovo, Thessaloniki and Sofia | 27 October 2009

The drive to forge a new identity, as heir to the world of Classical Antiquity, creates identity crisis at home and worsens tensions with neighbours.

In the peak-time slot every Saturday evening on TV in Skopje, Atanas Pcelarski explains the meaning of words from the world of Classical Antiquity in modern FYROM. “Macedonia is the source of the world. Languages, themes about God, religion, the legal system, they all stem from Macedonia,” he declares. The Macedonia of Classical Antiquity and the modern republic are one and the same.

Pcelarski is one of many who insist on a direct link between the world of Alexander the Great and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia of today. A growing obsession with the warrior is only part of a controversial debate about modern Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s ancient roots – and contemporary identity.

Since the nationalist VMRO-DMPNE party won the 2006 elections, Alexander’s name and image have become more visible. What began with the rebranding of the country’s main airport, has snowballed into a wider phenomenon.

The renaming of the airport as “Skopje Alexander the Great Airport” infuriated Greece, which insists that Alexander was a Hellene, and that both Macedonia’s name and the region’s Classical history are the exclusive cultural property of Greece.

The two neighbours have been locked in a dispute over FYROM’s name ever since the former Yugoslav republic declared independence in 1991.

Although FYROM rebuffed diplomatic suggestions to reverse the renaming of the airport, it refrained from further provocations until last year.

But since Greece blocked the issuing of an invitation for FYROM to join NATO in Bucharest in April 2008, the VMRO-DPMNE-led government of Nikola Gruevski has launched a series of projects celebrating Alexander and other Classical heroes.

This process is not without critics in FYROM. They say the attempt to construct a new identity for FYROM on the basis of a presumed link to the world of Antiquity, known locally as ‘Antikvizacija’ (Antiquisation), is having devastating consequences.

One complaint is that the campaign is placing new strains on a fragile multi-ethnic society in which the dissatisfaction of the large ethnic Albanian minority is already growing.

Another fear is that the emphasis on Classical Antiquity is dividing FYROM's largest ethnic group into two groups, separating those who back ‘Antiquisation’ from others who think of themselves as Slavs.

[Hellenicoz]

‘Secret diplomacy’ May End Macedonia Name Row
Skopje | 29 October 2009 | By Sinisa-Jakov Marusic

Many experts believe behind-the-scenes talks with Greece are taking place already – and could result in a compromise that unblocks FYROM’s path towards NATO and the EU.

[Hellenicoz]

FYROM President Senses Solution On Name
Skopje | 02 November 2009


Both Athens and Skopje need to make concessions in order to end their long standing “name” row, Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov said, adding that the two countries may now be closer to reaching a solution.


Ivanov made this remark in an interview for BBC's FYROM service.

“This (solution seeking) process cannot be removed from the United Nations. It has been hosted by the UN for almost 16 years and lately some kind of solution can be sensed,” Ivanov said.
He said he expects the UN mediator to the dispute, Matthew Nimetz to soon set-up another meeting between the two sides. The meeting would be the first in months during which elections in both countries stalled attempts to find a solution to the dispute.


During this summer Nimetz visited Skopje and Athens. Media speculate that his last compromise offer, that envisages some variation of the name Northern Macedonia, is still in play.
In 2008 Athens blocked NATO's invitation to Macedonia to join the organisation, arguing that the official name of the country, Republic of Macedonia, implies their neighbors’ territorial claims towards Greece’s own northern province called Macedonia.
The stand-off is now threatening to gridlock FYROM’s EU accession as well.
In mid October the European Commission recommended the start of FYROM’s EU accession talks but left the decision on issuing a date to the EU council.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia hopes to get a date at December’s session of the EU council but in order for that to happen all 27 EU member states must vote in favor. Greece has already stated that without a deal on the name it will not support issuing a date.
Top EU officials have lately intensified their statements of “encouragement” towards the country to strike a quick deal with Greece before December. FYROM should “seize the window of opportunity” to solve the row, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said last week.

[Hellenicoz]

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's ethnic Albanians urge gov't to solve name spat with Greece




SKOPJE, Nov. 3

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's ethnic Albanians are urging the government to reach a deal with Greece over the name issue that has dogged the two neighbors for the past 18 years, local media reported Tuesday.

The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), a junior partner in the coalition government, has set a deadline for its senior ethnic partner, the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO DPMNE), to solve the ongoing spat until December.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) hopes to get a date from the December EU council to start its EU accession talks, a decision that needs consensus from all 27 member states. Greece, a full member of the EU, threatens to block the move if a solution for the name row is not reached.

Last year, Athens blocked Skopje from entering NATO due to the same reason, insisting that Skopje's official name, "the Republic of Macedonia," implies its territorial claims toward Greece's own northern province, also with the name of Macedonia.

After the blockade, the DUI has given the center-right VMRO DPMNE party a free hand to deal with the name issue. However, the ethnic Albanians have made it clear that their patience will not last forever.

If there is no solution until December, "Albanians will enter NATO and EU without Slav Macedonians," DUI's parliament member Rafiz Aliti said Monday, without clarifying whether that would mean that the DUI considers leaving the government or other radical steps.

VMRO DPMNE has so far reacted only by saying it would not succumb to ultimatums when issues of national interest such as the name problem are concerned.

Ethnic Albanians make up a quarter of the two million people living in the western Balkan country. The EU and NATO prospects of the country are seen by observers as the strongest ties that bond the Slav Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority. Without that, some fear the ethnic tensions of the past might return.

In 2001, FYROM suffered a short-lived Albanian insurgency that ended with a peace agreement foreseeing greater rights for the Albanian community. The insurgents subsequently disbanded and their leaders formed the DUI.

The pressure on Prime Minister and VMRO DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski to swiftly reach a deal with Greece started to mount last month after his country got a positive assessment from the European Commission that included a recommendation for EU accession talks.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has urged Skopje to "seize the window of opportunity" before the December EU council.

In an interview with FYROM's BBC last week, FYRoM's President George Ivanov hinted at the possibility of a near-future solution.

"This (solution seeking) process cannot be removed from the United Nations. It has been hosted by the UN for almost 16 years and lately some kind of solution can be sensed," Ivanov said.

[Hellenicoz]

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Invites Greek President To Visit
Skopje | 04 November 2009


The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) President Georgi Ivanov on Wednesday sent an invitation to his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias to visit FYROM, a move seen as a positive step towards resolving of the long standing “name” row between the two neighbors.

[Big_Becka]

Hellenicoz, these are interesting posts. There has been a massive "Invest In Macedonia" campaign over the last six months or so, with long, glossy adverts on the television. It is good to know the story under the surface.

[Hellenicoz]

Greece Reiterates “Red Line” For FYROM
Skopje | 10 November 2009


The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s EU and NATO accession will be possible only after the country reaches a solution with Greece on the name issue, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday in Berlin.

The meeting was held at the initiative of the Greek side to better present Athens' positions, Greece’s state news agency ANA-MPA reports.

Stressing that "Greece is playing a leading role in the Balkans again and desires to contribute decisively to (the region's) EU accession course,” Papandreou, who also acts as Greek Foreign Minister, reiterated that for FYROM there are preconditions.

“The Greek prime minister made it absolutely clear that a precondition for FYROM’s FYROM’s UN provisional reference accession course is the solving of the neighbouring country's name, in accordance with "national red lines" that have been set on the part of Greece”, ANA-MPA said.

Athens previously said it would insist on a composite name for Skopje with a geographical qualifier for all uses without exception.

Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession due to the 18 years long row. Athens argues that Skopje’s constitutional name Republic of Macedonia implies territorial claims towards Greece’s own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

Papandreou who was seen as less hawkish about the name issue than his predecessor Kostas Caramanlis, won last month elections in Greece. His victory, along with the European Commission recommendation for FYROM to start EU accession talks that also came in October,were seen as a chance for a fresh start in the hope of finding solution to the row.

Senior EU and US diplomats have encouraged both sides towards compromise before December’s EU council in which Skopje hopes to get a date for its accession talks. Athens, who has a right to veto, said it would block this if there is no breakthrough in the talks.

The UN mediator in the row, Matthew Nimetz has summoned a fresh round of the solution seeking talks for 16 November. Local media say that some variations of a compound name Northern Macedonia are still on the table at the UN talks.

Papandreou also yp;f Clinton about his initiative for an informal acquaintance meeting with FYROM's Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, which took place in Brussels recently.

[Hellenicoz]

What is FYROM doing to be an EU member except provoke trouble upon its neighbours Greece and Bulgaria..It does not even recognise those countries borders or World history or adhere to International laws or the EU.. Do we need to go on?

[EuroPenguin]

As far as I know, Macedonia (FYROM) is in the same area as the ancient Macedonia, unless I am mistaken? Though, New Macedonia sounds like a good name

[Hellenicoz]

As far as I know, Macedonia (FYROM) is in the same area as the ancient Macedonia, unless I am mistaken? Though, New Macedonia sounds like a good name

Modern Macedonia (Northern Province of Greece) is in the same area as the ancient Macedonian's & spoke the same Hellenic (Greek) language. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) became a country in 1991 & before 1944 was named Vardar Banovina. In 1944 the Yugoslav leader Tito decided to change this southern region of Yugoslavia to its new name Macedonia.

You dont have to be genius or a historian to see the writting & language of the Ancient Macedonians wasnt the Slavic language spoken in FYROM today. The Slavs arrived in the region thousands of years after the Ancient Macedonian Empire.

The Ancient Macedonians wouldnt understand the language spoken in FYROM today & didnt have first names like Zoran, Goran, Zlatko, Vlade, Igor, Darko, Branko & surnames like Milosevski, Stojkovski, Markovski, Petrovski, Hristov, Mitreski, Naumovski, Gruevski etc.

Maybe you want to here it from FYROM's own leaders?
http://www.historyofmakedonia.com/?p=16

[Hellenicoz]

Sweden Calls for Name Settlement
Skopje | 17 November 2009


The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Greece must use the window of opportunity before the December EU council to strike a deal on their name spat that continues to block Skopje’s Euro-Atlantic integration, Swedish Foreign Minister said on Tuesday.

“This has to be dealt with bilaterally” Carl Bildt, whose country is currently running the rotating EU presidency, told media in Brussels.

He noted that Matthew Nimetz, the UN Mediator in the ongoing solution seeking talks, should be supported in encouraging both sides to reach common ground in the 18-years long dispute.

“I was talking to FYROM's PM Nikola Gruevski and Greek PM George Papandreu. There is will on both sides to move forward, there is window of opportunity now, and I can only appeal to both Athens and Skopje to use this window of opportunity,” Bildt said.

Last year, Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession over the 18 years-long spat. Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims towards its own northern province -- also called Macedonia.

A repeat Greek blockade, this time in the EU in December can be avoided, Greece’s latest stance asserts, on the condition that Skopje accepts a name change. Skopje hopes to acquire a date for its EU accession talks, but Athens has reiterated that this will not happen if there is no breakthrough in the name talks.

Meanwhile, FYROM's leaders convened yesterday and said they will continue to take part in the UN talks in spite of, as they called them, “the extreme Greek positions” a government press release reads.

FYROM's negotiator in the name talks, Zoran Jolevski, and his Greek counterpart, Adamantios both met separately with Nimetz last week in New York.

FYROM's media reported, citing unnamed government sources, the negotiation process has dramatically worsened during the last round of Athens-Skopje name talks because Greece stepped up its demands while FYROM offered no additional concessions.

Both sides neither officially confirmed nor denied these allegations.

Media speculate that some form of the name Northern Macedonia is still on the table in the New York talks.

[Hellenicoz]

Report: FYROM, Greece Name Solution Sours
Skopje


The negotiation process has dramatically worsened during the last round of Athens-Skopje name talks in New York. Greece stepped up its demands and FYROM offered no additional concessions, local media cite unnamed Former Yugoslav Macedonian government sources as saying.

According to A1 TV, while at the parlay with the UN name mediator Matthew Nimetz on Thursday, the Greek negotiator, Adamantios Vassilakis delivered a list of steep demands that set back efforts to find a solution.

Athens now insists its neighbor’s name be changed to the Republic of Northern Macedonia for full international use, as well as nationality to be specified as Northern Macedonian. Skopje has already said it would insist on preserving the countries nationality classification, A1 TV said.

Moreover, Vassilakis insisted that the current use of the name Macedonia for commercial purposes is unacceptable for Greece, which requires all products bound for EU member-states to lose the Macedonia prefix and acquire the new one. The international code MK, as well as the Internet domain .mk. should also be altered, A1 says.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, the TV said that Nimetz has already notified the UN of this unfavorable shift in negotiations.

FYROM wants a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue, one that preserves the identity, dignity and integrity of Former Yugoslav Macedonian citizens, FYROM's negotiator in the name talks, Ambassador Zoran Jolevski, told Nimetz at a separate meeting in New York late Friday.

According to Former Yugoslav Macedonian media, Jolevski offered no additional concessions on FYROM’s stance, stating that Skopje remains supportive of what has become known as the double name formula, envisaging one name to be used for interactions with Greece while maintaining the country’s current official name for wider international use. This was already rejected by Greece.

Last year, Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession over the 18 years-long spat. Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims towards its own northern province -- also called Macedonia.

The new developments come after the EU urged both sides towards a speedy compromise in order to avoid another unpleasant Greek veto in December at the EU council. It is then that Skopje hopes to acquire a date for its EU accession talks, but Athens has reiterated that this will not happen if there is no breakthrough in the name talks.

A repeat Greek blockade can be avoided, Greece’s latest stance asserts, on the condition that Skopje informs Nimetz that it agrees to change its name. In that case, all additional details would be agreed upon by early next year.