Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia presses at UN for solution to name dispute
Describing his country’s ongoing name dispute with neighbouring Greece as “utterly incomprehensible,” the President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia told the United Nations today that a solution must be found that recognizes “our commitment, desire and determination for coexistence, community, individuality and identity.”
Nikola Gruevski told the General Assembly’s annual general debate, held at UN Headquarters in New York, that “we do not like being in the position of having our name and identity objected to by one country and we certainly did not ask for it.”
A UN-brokered interim accord in 1995 details the differences between the two countries over the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. It obliges both Athens and Skopje to continue negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General to try to reach an agreement, but so far they have not succeeded.
“Imagine the virtual state that my citizens find themselves in – blackmailed, with a blocked development and perspective – because of the blockages from our southern neighbour to enter the Euro-Atlantic institutions, just because for what we are,” the President said.
“I ask for your support to end this, for your support to allow us to be what we are, without hurting anybody, without inflicting damage on anyone, with understanding, tolerance and respect for our neighbours, friends, for all of you, with respect for our neighbour with whom we have this dispute and understanding of its fears. We do not bear any pretensions, nor do we have any intentions to monopolize the term Macedonia in this case.”
The President – who discussed the issue in a meeting today with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – noted in his address to the Assembly that “131 countries around the world have made a choice to recognize us by what we call ourselves – the Republic of Macedonia.”
In his address Mr. Gruevski also called for greater efforts to be devoted to preventive diplomacy – both as a theoretical concept, and as a means for stopping conflicts.
“The majority of the conflicts do not happen overnight; they are predictable, and so there are realistic opportunities for an effective diplomatic engagement towards their prevention.”