John Yang, You got half the story. The Greeks will accept Macedonia (Skopje), they said, but the actual offer on the table is that Macedonia is under no obligation to refer to itself by this description. If this were the actual offer, the Greeks would snap it up in a second, as they were the ones who proposed this name several years ago. The Greek FM explained why this isn't the stupidest issue in the world in today's Int'l Herald Tribune. And she did it rationally, unlike the petulant American official who prefers to remain anonymous. I can see why.

People consider Greece a bully because of this dispute. I consider the USA a much larger bully and hypocrite for having a trade embargo on a helpless little island named Cuba!!

We will never accept other name. Republic of Macedonia is our name. No one can play with our national identity. Greece welcome to the 21 century!

Where is the fine print in the article?  Let us see what was actually proposed:

Nimetz offered the name "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)" as a "fair compromise”, Greek Foreign Ministry Spokesman rejected the proposal in less than an hour after it was received and Skopia is silent on the matter.

According to the former US diplomat proposal, Mr. Nimetz, the name in English transcription would be used for international use, whereas the constitutional name (Republic of Macedonia in Slavic transcription) for internal use. The countries that have recognized the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name would be urged, without obliging them, to use the new name.

Where has Greece previously accepted such a proposal?

PS: Do take the time to read the interview of the Skopje Foreign Minister in Newsweek. It’s an eye opener and jives perfectly with the old saying: “Give the peasant a mile and he’ll take ten.”

Obviously this journalist should not be a journalist. It is common sense that journalists should not express judgment but instead report facts. If it is the stupidest issue then that is just your opinion. And you know that? No one cares about what you think. Do your job and report the facts. And John, in china they dont care about names much, but in Europe a hole wars have been raged for 'stupid' issues like that. I dont expect you to understand it but next time keep your opinions to yourself. Stupid or now, they must have a very good reason for it. Otherwise why would they hold it??? Makes no sense.
Good luck to you you will need it!

I do not know where to begin explaining how idiotic this blog post is. The fact of the matter is that an ethnicity which had nothing to do with the Ancient Macedonians is attempting to usurp its history, historical figures and Hellenic territory as part of Bulgarian nationalism which has failed throughout the Balkan Wars and World War II.

This is hardly a stupid issue- this is a matter of principle. I can liken this to the Falklands issue whereby Argentina angered Britain by issuing stamps with the name 'Malvinas'- I recall everyone being pro-England then, seeing as Argentina had no right to claim it; this is the same but on a scale 1000 times larger. You have FYROM spouting irredentist propaganda, making false claims about genocide and attrocities, and they have likened Hellas to Nazis/Fascists; which is disgusting given that Hellas lost 10% of its population fighting these evils. Therefore such a display only validates Hellas' stance in vetoing their ascension to NATO.

The facts speak for themselves; if the US and all their puppets did some reading for once instead of playing 'sheriff' they would find that Macedonia has been Hellenic since time immemorial- after all, Alexander the Great was an Argead, descended from Argos which is in southern Hellas- unless FYROM wants to claim that too. I needn't go any further- there are mountains of evidence to corroborate my point and many others.

VETO!

It is only stupid only to the extent of a person's ignorance of the history of this matter. (And we're not talking about antiquity here, but about post WWII Europe to be exact).

US Official = I don't understand + I'm too lazy to read so that I can understand = Stupidest 'Official'

Not a stretch for the Bush Administration.

It is only stupid only to the extent of a person's ignorance of the history of this matter. (And we're not talking about antiquity here, but about post WWII Europe to be exact).

US Official = I don't understand + I'm too lazy to read so that I can understand = Stupidest 'Official'

Not a stretch for the Bush Administration.

This is not a stupid issue, John Yang.  Do a little research and educate yourself on why this issue has been going on since 1991.  Clearly, FYROM is stealing not only a Greek name, but also trying to claim Greek history.  Good for Greece.

Jeff - NY, USA

Why can't this new country call itself whatever it wants?

Let me explain the problem as Greeks see it. When Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia changed the name of his country's southern province in 1944 from Vardar Banovina to the Social Republic of Macedonia, he did it to stir up disorder in northern Greece in order to communize the area and to gain an outlet to the Aegean Sea for his country.

This policy was also linked with the Greek civil war that at the time claimed more than 100,000 Greek lives, brought untold destruction to our country, and delayed our post-war reconstruction for a decade.

The name "Republic of Macedonia," therefore, is not a phantom fear for us Greeks. It is linked with the deliberate plan to take over a part of Greek territory that has had a Greek identity for more than three millennia and is associated with immense pain and suffering by the Greek people.

Greeks believed that when Yugoslavia dissolved and FYROM declared its independence in 1991, its leaders would recognize our sensitivity to its use of a name it adopted during the Communist era and change it, as the Soviet Union did, to make a clean break with its past.

Not only did they fail to do that, but for 17 years now, the authorities in the country have continued to try to undermine Greek sovereignty over Greek Macedonia, which they call "Aegean Macedonia," and to portray it as "occupied" territory that will one day be "liberated."

While government leaders declare that they have no designs on Greek territory, they refuse to remove such claims from textbooks, speeches, articles, maps and national documents. In fact, by insisting on the name Tito gave the area, they perpetuate the goal he pursued.

Most distressing for Greeks is that the leaders of FYROM insist that their country use the designation "Macedonia" in their country's name without any qualification - in dramatic contrast to international practice and common sense.

When parts of a historical region fall into two countries, the newer area uses an adjective to distinguish itself from the older one - New Mexico and Mexico are one such example. But the leaders of Skopje have so far rejected all possible designations to do that proposed by current UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz.

Greece does not dispute that a part of historic Macedonia lies within FYROM and we are prepared to accept a compound name. But FYROM insists on being sole claimant to the name of a whole area, the largest part of which lies outside its borders.

This intransigence comes in spite of Greece's efforts to maintain good relations with FYROM and to support it economically. In the past dozen years, Greece has made the biggest investments (more than $1 billion) and created the most jobs (20,000) in FYROM of any country in the world.

Greece has also made great strides to try to resolve the name issue under UN auspices. It has sat at the negotiating table since 1995 and has shown willingness to consider a solution that the UN mediator advocates - a composite name that includes the geographical designation of Macedonia but attaches an adjective to it to distinguish it from the Greek province with the same name. That's sensible, reasonable and fair to both sides.
As long as the problem persists we cannot and will not endorse FYROM joining NATO or the European Union. No Greek government will ever agree to it. No Greek parliament will ever approve it.

Hi John,

This 'stupid' issue can be resolved quite easily - put 'New', 'Northern' or 'Upper' in front of the name Macedonia. This by no means jeapardises anybody's identity and the Balkans live happily ever after.

Unfortunately, while Greece has made significant concessions in this issue (it originally refused to accept a name that even included the word 'Macedonia' in it), their northern neighbours refuse to make any concessions whats so ever.

51% of the geographical region of Macedonia and over 90% of the historical region corresponding to the Kingdom of Macedon lie within Greece's borders. The 'Republic of Macedonia' (FYROM) does not have the right to monopolise the name. Greece is asking to share it!

This issue is 'stupid' because Skopje has let this dispute carry on for 17 years instead of resolving it. How can Greece accept a nation into the alliance that quite frankly I doubt they even consider an ally?

A very dumb issue indeed

what an april fools day!

Sadly, this is all true, happening for real at 1st of April, 2008.

God Bless!

This article is unfairly prejudiced against the Greek position and fails to disclose the full proposal for the name "Macedonia (Skopje)".  The article fails to mention that the specific terms for this arrangement would have been entirely in favor of the position of the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM), and wholly at the expense of Greece.  Through this proposal, the use of the name "Republic of Macedonia," would have been recognized de facto internationally, and "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)" would have been reserved for international use on a strictly voluntary basis. For over a decade, since its inception in 1991, the infant country of FYROM (a nation ethnically composed of Albanians and Slavs) has aggressively waged an identity war against Greece, a committed NATO ally, through the provocative adoption of Greek national and cultural symbols, along with a subversive propaganda campaign seeking to obscure the history of the region.  The failure to reach a solution has been the result of FYROM's complete and utter intransigence, which has been bolstered by the willingness of but a handful of influential nations all too willing to acquiesce at the expense of Greece.

John, with all due respect, I think it would be better if you took the time to look a bit more under the surface of the issue (the name) instead of just coming up with a catchy headline. What the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia wants is to monopolize the term "Macedonia" (a geographic area spread in three different countries) and territorial claims against Greece (such as "Greater Macedonia" maps) have appeared and been promoted through state documents / school books and monuments. The name is just the capstone in this story. I think an alliance betweein 2 neighboring relations needs to be based on real solutions of existing problems and not just "quick fixes".

...Sorry for not noticing that the headline was not yours but quoted from someone else :)

This issue is not that stupid as it looks like, Greece is afraid of paying large amounts of money to the macedonian people, who were expelled from their homeland. 51% percent of the ethnical territory of Macedonia was conquered by Greece back in 1913, many macedonian people lost their land, their homes and some of them, their lives. So, when there is no macedonian nation, macedonian language, there is no need to pay that money.

Maybe it’s difficult for you to understand the reason why Greece has been adopted such diplomatic behavior on the issue of “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia “ex Federal Republic of Macedonia at the Communist period the time when Greece supported USA  on her straggle against USSR .
Let me remind your official foreign position at the age of 1945 when Joseph Bros Tito gave the name Federal Republic of Macedonia in order to claim the Hellenic Macedonia through the construction of a non existed “nation”  was that: “The name Macedonia   it is historical Greek name and any use of other nation consists aggressive action against Greece”
But the time has changed and the official foreign policies   too now is enough to say that is difficult to understand  and  to give names (stupid etc ) in order to describe the sensitivities of the historical nations like Hellas.
Y our country is interested in the expansion of NATO at any cost as soon as possible in order to take strategic positions against Russia but this is your problem not ours.
You have to understand that Greece is no one’s slave and we do not obey on anything anyone wants just because he wants it and because he is “super power”.

Albania should never be a member of Nato as long as it maintains links to AlQuaida and funds the radical attacks on Christian Serbs in Kosovo. They have fooled the Americans but they can not fool the Europeans who are overwhelmingly opposed to its admission in Nato.
Macedonia has deliberately chosen a name for their country that is a provocation to Greece. The US is risking alienating the entire European force if it proceeds with allowing Macedonia to join under its current name. Turkey and its military defacto presence in Cyprus is a good example of this.

I was once arrested by the Macedonian police for being an Albanian spy with an American passport (but I was a simple American citizen like any other, with no mission other then to get to Athens).  If it hadn't been for the heroic behavior of the train conductor (I'm sure G-d has blessed him) who refused to pull the train out of the station until I was on it, I was already undressed at gunpoint if you get the point.  I still am not sur which Macedonian police arrested me, that's the most annoying part!

Let the slavic country (FYROM) get their own History and stop stealing from the Greeks.

The world's stupidest major issue is not the Greek-Macedonia name dispute, but the ill-concieved invasion of Iraq to find the non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and bring "freedom" to the Iraqi populace.  

Greece is not interested in a compromise. This is a political scape goat issue for the Greek Government, which is trying to divert domestic attention to foreign issues, because of their poor performance at home. It smells a lot like the policies of Slobodan Milosevic.
NATO and EU's biggest mistake was admitting Greece, a spoiled Balkan brat, a bit too soon, since there is really no democratization, respect and openness in Greek society. But, time will show, their policies will fail miserably, only at their own expense.

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