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Greece to Lift Embargo Against Macedonia if It Scraps Its Flag
By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
Published: September 14, 1995
Greece agreed today to take steps to lift its 19-month trade embargo against the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, in return for concessions from Macedonia that include scrapping the country's existing national flag.
The two neighbors have yet to settle a more intractable dispute over the name of Macedonia, which Greece contends belongs properly to its northern province. But the interim agreement, which came together after 28 months of shuttle mediation by Cyrus R. Vance, a former United States Secretary of State, defuses the longstanding threat of violence in a region already ravaged by ethnic warfare.
The accord was signed at the United Nations this afternoon by the Greek Foreign Minister, Karolos Papoulias, and his Macedonian counterpart, Stevo Crvenkovski, after some last-minute bargaining over the details.
It commits Macedonia to cease using "in any fashion" a 16-pointed star displayed on the red background of its national flag. Greece contends that the distinctive symbol, called the Sun or Star of Vergina, is intrinsic to its own cultural heritage.
Macedonia further pledged that nothing in its Constitution, which promises to protect all Macedonians, will be interpreted as constituting a claim to territory beyond its borders. Greece and Bulgaria both have ethnic Macedonian minorities.
Greece and Macedonia also agreed to establish diplomatic relations "at an early date," beginning with the prompt opening of liaison office in Athens and Skopje, and confirmed their common border as "enduring and inviolable." Greece had refused to recognize Macedonia, which declared independence after Yugoslavia disintegrated in 1991.
Mr. Vance said the steps needed to implement the accord fully would take place over the next few weeks. The agreement takes effect 30 days from today.
This would include lifting Greek trade sanctions, which have badly damaged Macedonia's landlocked economy. The agreement does not mention the sanctions but commits both nations to "refrain from imposing any impediment to the movement of people or goods between their territories." Mr. Vance had assured reporters last week that the sanctions would be lifted once the agreement was signed.
Two days of tough negotiations here preceded today's signing, with relations at first so frosty that the two Foreign Ministers stayed in different hotels here while Mr. Vance shuttled between them to resolve the final differences.
The Foreign Ministers finally met this afternoon under the auspices of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to sign the agreement. But Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Crvenkovski did not speak to each other in front of reporters or take any questions.
Mr. Vance declined to specify the final sticking points, saying only that "there were a lot of technical things" to resolve in so wide-ranging an agreement. There were reports that the United States engaged in arm-twisting to get Greece to settle its dispute with Macedonia.
The negotiations over Macedonia's name are expected to resume in late October or early November. But Mr. Vance said, "The fact that they have a difference over the name is not going to affect progress" on what has already been achieved.
Mr. Vance said the agreement today "has possibilities of having a positive effect" on the ethnic fighting elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. About 550 American soldiers are deployed in Macedonia as part of a larger United Nations force trying to prevent hostilities from spilling over from Bosnia.
The two neighbors have yet to settle a more intractable dispute over the name of Macedonia, which Greece contends belongs properly to its northern province. But the interim agreement, which came together after 28 months of shuttle mediation by Cyrus R. Vance, a former United States Secretary of State, defuses the longstanding threat of violence in a region already ravaged by ethnic warfare.
The accord was signed at the United Nations this afternoon by the Greek Foreign Minister, Karolos Papoulias, and his Macedonian counterpart, Stevo Crvenkovski, after some last-minute bargaining over the details.
It commits Macedonia to cease using "in any fashion" a 16-pointed star displayed on the red background of its national flag. Greece contends that the distinctive symbol, called the Sun or Star of Vergina, is intrinsic to its own cultural heritage.
Macedonia further pledged that nothing in its Constitution, which promises to protect all Macedonians, will be interpreted as constituting a claim to territory beyond its borders. Greece and Bulgaria both have ethnic Macedonian minorities.
Greece and Macedonia also agreed to establish diplomatic relations "at an early date," beginning with the prompt opening of liaison office in Athens and Skopje, and confirmed their common border as "enduring and inviolable." Greece had refused to recognize Macedonia, which declared independence after Yugoslavia disintegrated in 1991.
Mr. Vance said the steps needed to implement the accord fully would take place over the next few weeks. The agreement takes effect 30 days from today.
This would include lifting Greek trade sanctions, which have badly damaged Macedonia's landlocked economy. The agreement does not mention the sanctions but commits both nations to "refrain from imposing any impediment to the movement of people or goods between their territories." Mr. Vance had assured reporters last week that the sanctions would be lifted once the agreement was signed.
Two days of tough negotiations here preceded today's signing, with relations at first so frosty that the two Foreign Ministers stayed in different hotels here while Mr. Vance shuttled between them to resolve the final differences.
The Foreign Ministers finally met this afternoon under the auspices of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to sign the agreement. But Mr. Papoulias and Mr. Crvenkovski did not speak to each other in front of reporters or take any questions.
Mr. Vance declined to specify the final sticking points, saying only that "there were a lot of technical things" to resolve in so wide-ranging an agreement. There were reports that the United States engaged in arm-twisting to get Greece to settle its dispute with Macedonia.
The negotiations over Macedonia's name are expected to resume in late October or early November. But Mr. Vance said, "The fact that they have a difference over the name is not going to affect progress" on what has already been achieved.
Mr. Vance said the agreement today "has possibilities of having a positive effect" on the ethnic fighting elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. About 550 American soldiers are deployed in Macedonia as part of a larger United Nations force trying to prevent hostilities from spilling over from Bosnia.
Was it worth it?
Sixteen years later we effectively have a new embargo due to the strikes in Greece. Same rubbish, different millenium?
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