Macedonia & Greece: Name Issue

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  • Risto the Great
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2008
    • 15658

    In this instance, he is far closer to reality than any other Greek I have met online.
    Risto the Great
    MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
    "Holding my breath for the revolution."

    Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

    Comment

    • Spirit
      Member
      • May 2015
      • 154

      Originally posted by Amphipolis View Post
      Well, he's correctly not described as a "Greek journalist", but as a "journalist based in Athens", the kind of leftist who will even become pro-NATO and "pro-imperialism" when it is to speak against Greece.
      Really Amphipolis? Is that the excuse you come up with?
      Your reasoning is both skewered and pathetic.
      The reality of it is, as Risto stated above, is that this journalist is very rational.

      Comment

      • Stojacanec
        Member
        • Dec 2009
        • 809

        With a name like Zenakos, he is not just a journalist based in Athens...

        Comment

        • Tomche Makedonche
          Senior Member
          • Oct 2011
          • 1123



          Greek opposition won't back deal on name unless Skopje changes constitution

          ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s conservative political opposition will not back a deal to settle a decades-old row with Macedonia over its name unless the ex-Yugoslav republic changes its constitution, its leader said on Thursday.

          Athens and Skopje are negotiating to settle a dispute that has kept Macedonia from joining NATO and the European Union. Greece believes the name “Macedonia” implies a territorial claim over its northern region, which uses the same name.

          “We will express our strong disagreement in parliament if and when such an accord comes,” New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose party leads the country’s leftist-led government in opinion polls, told the foreign press association.

          “A constitutional review (by Skopje) is a necessary precondition for an accord,” he said.

          The changes New Democracy wants would affect passages in the Macedonian constitution that refer to nationality, language and other articles. Macedonia so far has refused to consider any such changes. And in any case the Greek government can pass any agreement without the help of New Democracy.

          Hundreds of thousands of Greeks rallied in the northern city of Thessaloniki and in Athens earlier this year to protest against the use of the name “Macedonia” in any solution to the row.

          Mitsotakis accused the government of conducting “secret diplomacy” and then briefing political parties in the opposition, saying its tactics are dividing Greeks.

          Talks between the two states have been inconclusive since 1991, when Macedonia withdrew from former Yugoslavia. It was admitted into the United Nations in 1993 under the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, sometimes referred to as FYROM.
          “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop, and you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all” - Mario Savio

          Comment

          • Niko777
            Senior Member
            • Oct 2010
            • 1895

            Comment

            • Phoenix
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2008
              • 4671

              Originally posted by Niko777 View Post
              I would love to know how the Macedonian 'negotiators' deal with the outrageous claim from the greek side that our name is a threat to them...clearly only a very minor section of the greek lunatic fringe consider us a threat and yet the greek side has used this red herring quite successfully as the cornerstone of their argument against Macedonia's recognition.

              It is time that the Macedonian leadership called out the real issue that has created this ridiculous stalemate...which is the annexation of Macedonian lands and the plethora of human rights abuses against the indigenous Macedonian population that have followed ever since...this is what the greeks are trying to conceal, the many ethnic skeletons that exist in the so called 'homogenous greek' closet.

              Comment

              • Niko777
                Senior Member
                • Oct 2010
                • 1895

                From the website of today's EU summit in Sofia

                Comment

                • Amphipolis
                  Banned
                  • Aug 2014
                  • 1328

                  What an interesting collection of different languages:

                  Bosnian:
                  Mi, lideri Evropske unije (EU) i njenih zemalja članica, uz konsultacije sa našim partnerima sa Zapadnog Balkana, i u prisustvu relevantnih zainteresovanih strana iz regiona, danas zaključujemo sljedeće:

                  Montenegrin:
                  Mi, lideri Evropske unije (EU) i njenih zemalja članica, uz konsultacije sa našim partnerima sa Zapadnog Balkana, i u prisustvu relevantnih zainteresovanih strana iz regiona, danas zaključujemo sljedeće:

                  Serbian:
                  Ми, лидери Европске уније (ЕУ) и њених држава чланица, у консултацији са партнерима са Западног Балкана и у присуству релевантних регионалних актера, данас смо закључили следеће

                  Comment

                  • Tomche Makedonche
                    Senior Member
                    • Oct 2011
                    • 1123

                    Originally posted by Niko777 View Post
                    From the website of today's EU summit in Sofia

                    Ahhhh that Bulgarian friendship agreement... the Tartars will say our countries have never been closer
                    “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop, and you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all” - Mario Savio

                    Comment

                    • Tomche Makedonche
                      Senior Member
                      • Oct 2011
                      • 1123



                      Macedonia, Greece Close to Ending Decades-Old Dispute Over Name

                      Greece has long blocked Balkan neighbor’s EU membership due to dispute over its name

                      SOFIA, Bulgaria—Greece and its neighbor, Macedonia, are close to resolving a decades-old dispute that has prevented the small Balkan country from joining the European Union, creating a rare bright spot in a region where hopes of joining the bloc remain largely on hold.

                      Greece has long blocked Macedonia’s EU membership because of its long-running objections the country’s name. The former part of Yugoslavia, then known as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, adopted the shortened version Macedonia when it became independent 27 years ago.

                      That triggered a dispute with neighboring Greece, which contains a neighboring region called Macedonia—named, like the country to its north, after the ancient kingdom of Alexander the Great. Athens has used its veto power to keep the newcomer out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to block EU accession talks. As a result, the provisional name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or Fyrom, is used by international organizations and countries that don’t recognize the state, although about 140 countries recognize its constitutional name, the Republic of Macedonia.

                      Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, agreed in Sofia on nearly all the parameters of an international deal, according to several officials. It is most likely that the the Balkan nation will go by the new name “Upper Macedonia,” officials from both countries said.

                      If they manage to iron out the last details, the two countries could strike a final deal before the next summit of EU leaders in late June, when the European Commission could vote to start accession talks with Macedonia.

                      The two countries have been keen to come to an agreement before the next NATO summit on July 11.

                      Any accord would require approval by parliaments in both countries. Macedonia’s fragile government would also have to revise the country’s constitution to reflect the changes.

                      Meanwhile, doubts among EU members about the pace of the bloc’s enlargement and conditions for admitting new countries are spelling a long wait for Macedonia’s Balkan neighbors.

                      Pressed by concerns about Russian, Chinese and Turkish influence in the Balkans, the EU’s executive earlier this year set 2025 as a target date for enlarging the bloc to at least the most advanced of the nonmember Balkan countries, namely Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia, aside from Macedonia.

                      However, at a meeting of EU and Balkan leaders in the Bulgarian capital on Thursday, the obstacles to enlargement were again on display. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose country faces its own secession issues with Catalonia and is one of five EU members not to recognize the former Serbian province of Kosovo as an independent country, left the meeting early.

                      French President Emmanuel Macron said previous enlargements had contributed to a weakening of the EU over the past 15 years. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she preferred to focus on the speed of economic, judicial and political reforms in the aspirant members, not target dates.

                      "Opening up a time horizon I think isn’t so important,” she said in a press conference.

                      After the wars that followed the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the EU lost focus on the region as the bloc was consumed by its own internal crises. Nonetheless, Bulgaria and Romania became members in 2007 and Croatia joined in 2013. Brussels currently sees Serbia and Montenegro as the Balkan countries best placed to join.
                      “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop, and you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all” - Mario Savio

                      Comment

                      • Tomche Makedonche
                        Senior Member
                        • Oct 2011
                        • 1123

                        Meeting at the Sofia summit, the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers said they have narrowed down one possible solution for the long-standing bilateral name dispute, which they will now take back to their countries for consideration.


                        Macedonia, Greek PMs Pinpoint Possible ‘Name’ Solution

                        Meeting at the Sofia summit, the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers said they have narrowed down one possible solution for the long-standing bilateral name dispute, which they will now take back to their countries for consideration

                        After meeting at the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia on Thursday, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras have pinpointed one option for a possible solution to their countries' long dispute over Macedonia's name.

                        Zaev said this option, which was not disclosed in detail, would now travel back to both countries to seek support from other relevant political factors and in search of institutional ways concerning how it could be implemented.

                        “If it is possible, there will be a solution,” Zaev told a press conference in Sofia after his talks with Tsipras.

                        Although the Macedonian leader at the press conference avoided mentioning the term “solution” too often, he did confirm that he had reached an agreement with Tsipras on how the compromise between the two countries should look like.

                        But he said that, for a final solution to be found, they would both have to consult other political factors in their respective countries.

                        “We have pinpointed one option that may be acceptable for both sides,” Zaev said.

                        But, he added: “I am Zoran, and my partner is Alexis, and we have to consult with the other political factors in our countries, with the presidents and with the other political leaders”.

                        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.

                        Macedonia's Zaev said that today’s meeting with his Greek counterpart, the second this year, after UN-sponsored name talks had intensified some four months ago, marked a point of even stronger friendship between the two countries.

                        “We are solving the dispute in order to strengthen the dignity and identity of the citizens in both countries,” he declared.

                        Amid a lack of hard information, media in both countries have speculated that some form of a composite name, like Upper, or Northern, Macedonia, might be at the core of a possible solution being discussed or agreed on.

                        The main problem in striking a deal is not only the term, however, but its use.

                        Macedonia wants it used only internationally, while Greece has insisted that Macedonia must change its constitution and use the new name domestically as well.

                        “We have come a long way, but there is still distance. We will meet at the beginning of next month. Our goal is to find a solution before June 28-29,” Tsipras told a separate press conference after the meeting with Zaev.

                        “There are still issues to be worked out, it is complicated,” Tsipras added.

                        The meeting between the two Prime Ministers lasted for half-an-hour, after which both leaders held separate parlays with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

                        “The Macedonian name issue will be crucial for the progress of the [EU] enlargement issue, and I am looking forward to the agreement in order to send it for discussion in the Bundestag,” Merkel said earlier on Thursday
                        “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop, and you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all” - Mario Savio

                        Comment

                        • Risto the Great
                          Senior Member
                          • Sep 2008
                          • 15658

                          Originally posted by Niko777 View Post
                          From the website of today's EU summit in Sofia

                          Albanian, Macedonian or what? They are gonna have to be more clear about these things in the future. I hope we can all get some clear guidance on this.
                          Risto the Great
                          MACEDONIA:ANHEDONIA
                          "Holding my breath for the revolution."

                          Hey, I wrote a bestseller. Check it out: www.ren-shen.com

                          Comment

                          • tchaiku
                            Member
                            • Nov 2016
                            • 786

                            Originally posted by Risto the Great View Post
                            I think the best she could be is a proud Greek of Pontian origins. What a pity she does not know the real history of the region.
                            They are not even Greeks. In genetic studies they basically come up as Lazes, Armenians and Georgians.

                            https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazia_(Pontus)

                            Comment

                            • maco2envy
                              Member
                              • Jan 2015
                              • 288

                              Originally posted by tchaiku View Post
                              They are not even Greeks. In genetic studies they basically come up as Lazes, Armenians and Georgians.

                              https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazia_(Pontus)
                              We are well aware of this

                              Comment

                              • Niko777
                                Senior Member
                                • Oct 2010
                                • 1895

                                Republika Ilindenska Makedonija

                                Source: http://www.ekathimerini.com/228785/a...nden-macedonia

                                Source: https://kanal5.com.mk/articles/33518...va-site-grizhi

                                Comment

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