Macedonia FM Says 'Ilinden' Name Deserves Support

The latest package for solving the long-standing Macedonia-Greece 'name' dispute, involving the composite name 'Republic of Ilinden Macedonia', should be given a chance, Macedonia's Foreign Minister said.

Macedonian FM Nikola Dimitorv [left] and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in Vienna. Archive Photo: EPA-EFE/ALEX HALADA

Macedonia and Greece need to show leadership over the latest proposal for a solution to the “name” dispute, which includes the name “Republic of Ilinden Macedonia” for all uses; otherwise they risk taking a step back in the ongoing “name” talks, Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, said on Sunday.

“I don’t see a more adequate proposal over which both sides in the negotiations have [reached] consent,” Dimitrov told Macedonian 1TV late on Sunday.

“We are ready to defend this, and to persuade our people to stand behind this solution because we believe in it,” he added, warning: “If one component is removed, the entire package falls apart.”

In case of failure, the talks might take a step backwards over the issue of the span of use of an agreed compromise name, which has been covered in the latest package, he noted.

On Saturday, the Greek government issued a statement indirectly hinting at rejection of the package.

“We welcome FYROM’s [Macedonia’s] acknowledgement that a name solution cannot be reached without adopting an ‘erga omnes’ [for all uses] name,” the Greek government statement on Saturday said.

“Nevertheless, we encourage our neighbours to continue to work together in an effort to find a mutually acceptable solution with a geographic or chronological qualifier in accordance with the package of proposals put forward by UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz,” it added.

On Sunday, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev confirmed that this name was part of the latest package that he had discussed with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, during the EU-Western Balkans Summit on Friday in Sofia.

Zaev said this name proposal had come from the Macedonian side and that he and Tsipras had agreed to take this proposal back to their respective countries in order to seek wider support, adding that he was ready to stand by it.

The indirect rejection from the Greek government, however, adds to existing uncertainty over the forthcoming next round of name talks between Macedonia’s Dimitrov and the Greek FM Nikos Kotzias due on May 24-25 in New York.

The proposal to call the country “Republic of Ilinden Macedonia”, for all uses, came as a surprise, as the term was not contained in the latest set of ideas put forward by UN mediator Nimetz. Most previous speculation mentioned the terms Northern or Upper Macedonia.

The term “Ilinden” refers to St Elijah’s Day, marked on August 2, which is revered in Macedonia as a great national holiday marking the start of an uprising in 1903 against the Ottoman Empire. The rebels briefly formed a republic on the territory in and around the town of Krushevo, which lasted for ten days before being overrun by Ottoman forces.

The “name” dispute centres on Greece’s insistence that use of the word Macedonia implies a territorial claim to the northern Greek province of the same name.

Athens insists that a new name must be found that makes a clear distinction between the Greek province and the country.

As a result of the unresolved dispute, Greece blocked Macedonia’s NATO entry in 2008 and it has also blocked the start of Macedonia’s EU accession talks, despite several positive annual reports from the European Commission on the country’s progress.