Macedonia & Greece: Name Issue

[Tomche Makedonche]

Together with his ethnic Albanian bedfellows, does Zaev have enough votes to get this across the line in parliament, or does he need some DPNE people to cross over?


By the way, welcome back TM and Struja. You chose a hell of a time to make a reappearance!

My first reaction would be to say, hey man it’s Macedonia, anything can happen there when you have the power to make up the rules as you go...

Looking at this particular government, and the way they went about getting into power, electing the speaker, obtaining a mandate and implementing bilingualism (which from my understanding also should have necessitated a two thirds majority vote), I think the course of how this will play out has already been set

Until we see the actual agreement and what it consists of, we can only speculate how things will pan out, but based on the information thats been floating around, my best hunch on how it Might play out Would be something along the lines of as follows.

The actual agreement does not constitute an actual change of name, but something along the lines of a transitional framework to be implemented which will facilitate a referendum on the agreed proposal, basically something which does not technically or legally require a two thirds majority for Implementation but rather can be approved by a simple majority which Zaev controls. With this, Zaev can use the conditional approval of entry into NATO and EU as his carrot to influence the public in the referendum (which has been reported to be non-binding). If the referendum is successful then Zaev will push for the government to act on the people’s will (reflected in a two thirds majority vote to get the proposal through), which will then officially change the name via the constitution along with all of Greece’s requirements in the hope that once all that is done, Greece will keep its word...

Now in the period leading up to the referendum, Zaev will no doubt be able to draw from a plethora of tools to use in order to influence and obtain a favourable result. Political assistance will be received from international players whose interests align with his, the conditional admission to NATO and EU (with perhaps a sprinkle of some form of Interim privileges that will come with that) will assist his hand with securing public support (in any case, we all know how easily referendums in that place can be manipulated) and he always has the SPO and wire taps to draw on for leverage should his situation become dire and call for it.

The biggest liability at this point in time for him may be Ivanov. I don’t see him as actually being much of a hurdle to overcome, but it may negatively impact on the PR behind the sale of his scheme. Should Ivanov pose an obstacle to him getting the process for a referendum underway, if he is unable to just mitigate his impact as he did when he approved his mandate with the signing of some worthless agreement, we may see Zaev make a push for his removal with the view to elevate Xhaferi to that position until the elections. This is probably the biggest risk he faces at this point, but based on the history of Ivanov’s spineless resolve, I think that situation is likely to be avoided.

Anyway again, just me speculating how things may unfold at this point in time, but as I said, we really don’t know Much until we see what this agreement actually consists of

P.S. oh yeah and it is good to see some more of the forums heavy weights make their long awaited return

[Niko777]

"Warrior on a Horse" to be renamed "Alexander the Great"

The statue will include a new description that states it is a part of "Hellenistic culture" and of "historical significance to the world" and a "symbol of friendship with Greece"



Soure: https://www.24.mk/spomenikot-%E2%80%...dar-makedonski

[vicsinad]

Ivanov's speech was good.

[Statitsa]

Ivanov's speech was good.

Is there a link to the speech available yet?

[DedoAleko]

According to Kathimerini, this is the official agreement.

http://s.kathimerini.gr/resources/article-files/symfwnia-aggliko-keimeno.pdf

[Niko777]

Look at article 7. Macedonia has agreed to recognize the "Hellenic civilization, heritage, history, culture or the northern region of Greece."

[Bill77]

Is there a link to the speech available yet?

I'm sure a transcript of his speech to the nation will be available shortly. But here is one particular point he made.

Ivanov: what Greece did to Macedonians living in Greece, now it wants to do to Macedonians in Macedonia



I have so much respect for him right now.

[Bill77]

Look at article 7. Macedonia has agreed to recognize the "Hellenic civilization, heritage, history, culture or the northern region of Greece."

And Article 6
One can interpret this anyway one wants. It will most definitely be used by Greece to prevent Macedonia and Macedonians from exercising their free rights of speech, and security for an excuse to keep on blocking Macedonia. And this after Macedonia commits its own ethnocide by changing its constitution.

[Pelagonija]

"Warrior on a Horse" to be renamed "Alexander the Great"

The statue will include a new description that states it is a part of "Hellenistic culture" and of "historical significance to the world" and a "symbol of friendship with Greece"



Soure: https://www.24.mk/spomenikot-%E2%80%...dar-makedonski

Simply wooow....

Only a brutal and violent war can stop these soulles people.

[Carlin]

1) Debate on Kanal 5 (from tonight) -- B. Geroski (for the acceptance of the agreement) and R. Nikovski (against the agreement)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouME3hA_fSY

2) A protest was held in front of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia tonight - journalists were attacked, bottles thrown at police

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qDuTQVU00c

3) The Views of Stauros Lygeros

URL:

https://slpress.gr/ethnika/makedoniko-apodomisi-tis-kyvernitikis-propagandas/

(Below is all google translate - I have not edited anything)

a) National line was in the early 1990s, when the line "neither Macedonia nor derivatives" was decided at the meeting of political leaders under the then President of the Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis. This decision was subsequently violated in practice by the positions adopted by Greece in the negotiations with FYROM. We can again talk about a national line without ever recruiting an institutional one in 2008, when Greece did not allow FYROM to join NATO. Then the position "a complex name with a geographical definition" was actually adopted, but it is not clear whether it will also be for internal use. The term erga omnes had been used, but often in a gruff way: for all international uses! Regarding identity, without any specific discussion, there was a clear opposition to being called "Macedonians" and their language "Macedonian". In conclusion, with the present agreement the term for erga omnes is fulfilled. However, the national line is violated by accepting the name Macedonians and Macedonian language.

b) Undoubtedly the erga omnes is a positive element that did not exist in the Athens-Skopje negotiations before 2008. This gain, however, did not arise from the diplomatic capacity of Tsipras and Kotzias. It was because the accession of Macedonia to NATO and the EU presupposes an agreement with Greece. The Zaev government has had no room to ignore western pressure. It is precisely what erga omnes could be won without accepting the names Macedonians and Macedonian languages. Besides, there is an issue with the implementation of erga omnes. The agreement foresees that the change of documents is linked to the progress of the accession negotiations, which, however, does not depend on Greece. That is, if for various reasons the accession negotiations do not progress, North Macedonia will have joined NATO, but the change of documents will not be completed.

c) Irritation would be canceled if, at the same time, with the state name North Macedonia for all uses, the agreement provided that the citizens of the neighboring state would be called North-Macedonians and the language of the majority Macedonian ethnicity. When Greece accepts the name "Macedonians" and "Macedonian" it validates rather than cancels the irredentism. The "Macedonian" identity is the vehicle of irresponsibility, if not more than the state name. It is true that 140 states recognized FYROM as "Macedonia". Critical and decisive, however, was that Greece would recognize it. If that were not the case, Skopje would not negotiate with Athens nor change the state name.

d) Erga omnes means a change of constitutional name, which is done only through a constitutional revision. Some irrelevant reports will be deleted as part of the review. Positive, of little importance, because by recognizing the falsified "Macedonian" identity, Macedonism is validated. Macedonism is the national ideology of the Slav-Macedonians, the fantasy of the "divided Macedonian homeland". According to this ideology, Aegean Macedonia is under Greek occupation and Macedonian Pirin under Bulgarian. The third part of the "Macedonian homeland", Macedonia of Vardar, managed to be liberated and become an independent state. That is why Macedonism is the core of irresponsibility.

e) The explicit separation is undoubtedly positive and cancels out the very annoying effort, especially on the Gruevski government, for usurpation of the ancient Macedonian heritage. On the other hand, when you give them the name "Macedonians" and "Macedonian" language, you allow them to fish in the cloudy waters. Simple people in third countries who do not have a particular historical education will probably regard the contemporary "Macedonians" descendants of the ancient. To be fair, this problem also exists during all the years that the neighboring state had internationally become known as "Macedonia". Apart from these, besides the usurpation of the ancient Macedonian heritage, there is also the modern geopolitical aspect, the essence of which is the annulment of the ideology of Macedonism.

f) The Slav-Macedonians confuse ethnicity with nationality. As we mentioned earlier, since the state was called North Macedonia, its citizens would have to be called North-Macedonians. Because they seek recognition from Greece for "Macedonian" ethnicity, they achieve it on the one hand through language ("Macedonian") and on the other by citizenship. Why does nationality, not ethnicity, appear in passports? Nowadays, north Macedonia and citizens "Macedonians" will be seen internationally. It is a toxic combination that transforms into a trap and complex state name. Due to Vietnam (formerly) and Korea, the name North Macedonia refers semi-detachedly to a divided nation. That is why, while geographically the name North Macedonia reflects the reality, the Greek side had to avoid it. The name Upper Macedonia describes geographically the same, but without the negative semantics. So, as Kotzias did, the third-party association is that there is also a South Macedonia with Macedonians, that is, indirectly but clearly validated the ideology of the "divided Macedonian homeland".

[Struja]

Just read the agreement! looking at it. Article 7 just killed us. And article 8 the brainwashing starts.. What was he thinking.

[maco2envy]

Good article:

https://www.eurasiafuture.com/2018/06/13/the-macedonian-name-deal-threatens-to-erase-european-identity/

The Liberal-Globalists are carrying out another socio-political experiment in the Balkan petri dish, this time using the Macedonians as lab rats for testing how to most effectively erode a people’s identity before rolling out their weaponized model for replicating this on a continental scale, which they hope will enable them to erase the various nationalisms of Europe in their quest to transform the EU into a “federation of regions”.

The Republic of Macedonia and Greece reached a tentative deal to change the former’s constitutional name to the so-called “Republic of North Macedonia” as a “compromise” for Athens agreeing to Skopje’s membership in the EU and NATO. The news of this deal was largely overshadowed by the Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore, though this probably wasn’t a coincidence because it plays into both Balkan parties’ hands to have the media draw specious comparisons between their pact and the one between the US and North Korea. Instead of the win-win outcome that the much more publicized agreement was, this lesser-known one is a lose-lose for each country involved because they’re selling out their national interests to the transnational Liberal-Globalists.

The Macedonian-Greek Identity Conflict

Although it’s a very complex topic beyond the scope of fully explaining within this present analysis, the Macedonian-Greek dispute has become a core component of each people’s national identity, with the Macedonians insisting that they, their culture, language, and history be referred to as Macedonian, while the Greeks are adamant that this is a “misappropriation” of the ancient Hellenic heritage that they fully claim as their own, to say nothing of the fear that they have of Skopje one day making official territorial pretensions to the northern province of “Macedonia” that only came (or “returned”, as the Greeks frame it) under Athens’ control a little over a century ago. Understandably, both countries have deep-seated irreconcilable differences when it comes to this issue.

National identity, however, has always been the greatest impediment to the Liberal-Globalists’ plans for an ever-expanding transnational government, hence their disdain for both people’s stances towards this highly emotive issue and the pressure that they placed on each of their representatives to “compromise” in agreeing to this lose-lose deal. Greece’s official recognition of its northern neighbor’s self-identification as Macedonians is thought by some people to be a partial surrender of its heritage that they’re afraid could then lead to the salami-slicing of its identity between their Albanian, Bulgarian, and Turkish neighbors too one day. Likewise, Macedonian patriots believe that adding a geographic or any other sort of qualifier to their country’s name is a step in the direction of diluting their national identity prior to dividing their state between its identity-expansionist Albanian and Bulgarian neighbors, each of which informally claims parts of its territory as their historic own.

Both countries’ most vocal supporters of their respective positions do have a point, however, and it’s that the Balkans have always been used as a petri dish by Liberal-Globalists for perfecting the strategies and tactics that they’d later employ elsewhere in the world. The most powerful example of this is the externally provoked militant dissolution of Yugoslavia using a hybrid combination of internal (Croatian Ustasha fascists and Mideast-backed Bosnian Salafists) and external (debt, NATO) instruments that would later be applied all throughout the “Global South” and especially in the Mideast during the 2011 “Arab Spring” theater-wide Color Revolutions. Fittingly, the former Yugoslavia is once again being used as the centerpiece for experimenting with a new form of identity warfare as evidenced through the developments that have recently taken place in the Republic of Macedonia.

Remaking Macedonia

After two failed back-to-back Color Revolutions and a thwarted 2015 Hybrid War, the Liberal-Globalists finally succeeded in overthrowing the democratically elected and legitimate Macedonian government of Nikola Gruevski through a “constitutional coup” in 2017 which has since seen their “socialist” proxy Zoran Zaev enter into a worrying parliamentary alliance with the most nationalist members of the country’s Albanian minority. Gruevski and other Macedonian patriots warned that Zaev’s foreign-backed rise to power would lead to the erosion of their national identity via what would later turn out to be the “compromise” that was just reached on Macedonia’s constitutional name, though the Soros-affiliated politician consistently denied that this would ever happen until he and his CIA allies succeeded in “cleansing” the state of the former ruling party and felt comfortable enough in power to admit what his true mission was all along.


Still, in order to implement the agreed-upon name change, Zaev needs to amend the constitution, which requires that he marshals a two-thirds parliamentary majority in order to do so. As it stands, the ruling coalition falls short of this and will have to engage in some political horse trading with the VMRO-DPMNE opposition if this plan is to officially succeed, which there’s no guarantee that it will unless the post-coup Macedonian “deep state” weaponizes its US-obtained wiretaps from the past couple of years in order to blackmail their opponents into capitulating. As counterintuitive as it may sound, it’s much more likely for Macedonia to “honor” its end of this agreement than Greece despite the former having much more to lose by it because Tsipras’ government might fall before the deal is promulgated if the nationalist fury against him prompts snap elections that lead to his political downfall.

The failure of the Liberal-Globalists in getting Greece to agree to its end of this Faustian bargain following a prospective populist revolution in the country might temporarily or even indefinitely delay Macedonia’s expedited membership into the EU and NATO, but it wouldn’t save the country from its doom unless something similar happens there as well. The reason for this gloomy outlook is because Zaev’s other mission that he has yet to publicly acknowledge but which would inevitably follow any amendment to Macedonia’s constitutional name is to expand the provisions of the 2001 Ohrid Agreement to de-facto or possibly even officially “federalize” the country in facilitating the institutional expansion of the World War II-era geopolitical monstrosity of “Greater Albania”, which would be the death knell of Macedonian identity in dooming the country to eventual partition between Albania and Bulgaria with time.

From The Geopolitical To The Metaphysical

While representing a seemingly obscure and geographically confined development, the steady erosion of Macedonian identity by the Liberal-Globalists has continental implications for all other Europeans because of the very real potential that this weaponized template has for being applied against all other nationalities in the EU. There was a time during the early days of the regime change campaign against Gruevski that the US and its allies’ main motivation in targeting the Republic of Macedonia was geopolitical in the sense of preventing the country from becoming a crucial transit state for Russia and China’s multipolar megaprojects of the Balkan Stream pipeline and Balkan Silk Road high-speed railway respectively, but the modus operandi for continuing this mission and the attendant dismantlement of Macedonian identity is now mostly metaphysical.

To explain, Russia’s project will now be diverted through Bulgaria after Zaev sabotaged Macedonia’s geostrategic role in multipolarity, while China’s can be “managed” through Serbia’s eventual membership in the EU following Vucic’s inevitable selling out of Kosovo, so the original geopolitical drivers for the Hybrid War on Macedonia are no longer as relevant as they once were. That being said, the newfound metaphysical motivations for erasing Macedonian identity by advancing the plot to chance the Republic’s name and eventually “federalize” it are actually much more important for the Liberal-Globalists than disrupting, controlling, or influencing multipolar transnational connective infrastructure projects because of the potential that it has for “reforming” the EU from a collection of clearly defined nation-states into an identity-less blob that’s intended to become nothing more than a “federation of regions”.

Last year’s dramatic exacerbation of the “Catalan Crisis” and any subsequent spillover effect that its future development might have on the Flanders region of Belgium could spark a chain reaction of geopolitical changes within the EU that rapidly moves the bloc closer to misleadingly “decentralizing” into what would in effect actually amount to the much more centralized “federation of regions”, though this can’t happen at the pace that the Liberal-Globalists would prefer without an adaptable model being created for expediting the erasure of national identities in each of the bloc’s member states. Therein lays the significance of the “Macedonian Model” in its top-down imposition of anti-nationalist policies disguised by the illusion of bottom-up (Color Revolution) demand in order to ultimately remove Macedonia from the map in the nominal sense.





The fast “progress” being made in this regard is attributable to an internal political alliance of “socialists”-“progressives” and ethno-regional minorities (Zaev’s SDSM and the Albanians) that could easily be replicated in the Western European countries that already embrace semi-leftist ideologies and whose leaderships have displayed their tendency to side with Muslim migrants over their own native inhabitants. The end result of transplanting a nationally customizable variant of the “Macedonian Model” onto other European states could also lead to them changing their names and/or engaging in extreme “decentralization” to the point of making their respective regions much more influential as de-facto independent actors than their national governments themselves, thereby facilitating the “federation of regions” that the Liberal-Globalist elite believe should be the EU’s post-Brexit future.

Concluding Thoughts

Whatever the reader’s personal views may be on the historical legitimacy of the Macedonian people’s claims to their identity and the constitutional name of their Republic, it should objectively be recognized that the implications of changing their country’s name will indeed be continental in ultimately affecting every other single state in the EU. When analyzed through the larger perspective that was elaborated upon in this article, the Macedonian name deal comes to be seen less as the North Korean-like win-win agreement that the media is deceptively comparing it to and more like the threat to each of Europe’s individual identities that it actually is.

What began as a geopolitical goal to undermine Russia and China’s multipolar Balkan megaprojects has evolved into a metaphysical mission to “reform” the very essence of European identities by literally “Balkanizing” each and every one of them (and especially those in the Western European countries that are already under siege) via the “Macedonian Model” being perfected in the Balkan petri dish, with the outcome being the erasure of their unique composite whole and replacement with a chaotic mix of artificially created regional ones that are much more easier for the elite to divide and rule.

Unfortunately the Serb pseudo historian Sotirovic also makes articles for the website above.

[Tomche Makedonche]

Some of the articles from today

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-1...w-name/9867916

Macedonian President refuses to sign off on 'damaging' name change deal

Macedonia's President says he will not sign a landmark deal reached with Greece on changing his country's name, dashing hopes of a swift end to a diplomatic dispute that has blocked Skopje's bid to join the European Union and NATO.

In Greece too, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced a barrage of criticism and the prospect of a no-confidence vote against his Government after he and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced the accord late on Tuesday.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said the deal violated the constitution and gave too many concessions to Greece.

Under the deal reached between the two countries' prime ministers, Macedonia will be renamed Republic of Northern Macedonia.

"My position is final and I will not yield to any pressure, blackmail or threats," Mr Ivanov told a news conference.

"I will not support or sign such a damaging agreement."

Mr Ivanov, who as president has the backing of the nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE and has the right to veto the deal, said Macedonia's possible future membership of the European Union and NATO was not sufficient excuse to sign such a "bad agreement".

The deal is expected to be signed by the two countries' foreign ministers this weekend.

After that, Macedonia's Parliament would vote on it, and if it is approved, Mr Ivanov's signature would be needed.

If he does not sign, the deal goes back to Parliament for a second vote. He would then have to sign off on the agreement if it passed.

The name dispute has roused strong nationalist sentiments and poisoned the two countries' relations since the Balkan country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece argues that the term "Macedonia" implies a claim on the territory and ancient heritage of its own northern province of the same name — the birthplace of ancient warrior king Alexander the Great.

Mixed reactions in both countries

Opponents in Greece object to any use of the term "Macedonia" in their northern neighbour's name, fearing territorial claims and seeing the use of the name as a usurping of Greece's ancient heritage.

Opponents in Macedonia disagree with any modification to their country's name, seeing it as a threat to their national identity.

On the streets of both capitals, reactions were mixed to the deal.

"We lost the country, this is a disaster," 45-year-old lawyer Mila Ivanovska said in Skopje, the Macedonian capital, and began to cry.

Greek opponents were equally angry.

"You, Slavs from Skopje through the centuries, you have never been true Macedonians," said Athenian resident Konstandinos Goutras.

But for others the deal marks a welcome end to a protracted dispute.

"North Macedonia is acceptable for me," said Svetlana Jancevska, a 55-year-old music teacher in Skopje.

"[It will] not damage my identity as Macedonian. The language remains Macedonian and that makes me happy. It was high time for the problem to be solved."

Calls were circulating on Macedonian social media for a renewed street protest late on Wednesday, while Greek opponents of the deal are planning a rally in Athens on Friday.

Hardliners on both sides are arguing that their prime ministers conceded too much to reach the deal.

Greek PM faces no confidence motion over name deal

In response to the deal, Greece's main opposition centre-right New Democracy party is considering submitting a no-confidence motion against the Tsipras Government, a party official said.

However, Mr Tsipras hopes the accord will boost his legacy and help improve the international image of Greece as a problem-solver after years of being the "sick man of Europe".

He told Greeks in a televised address on Tuesday evening that he was turning Greece into "a leading power in the Balkans" and "a pillar of stability in a deeply wounded region".

Based on the above bold and underlined text, its seems this will follow the same process as the bill for bilingualism and the Mandate to form government, in other words no requirement for a two thirds majority vote yet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.148abd859143

Macedonia name-change opponents rally forces in 2 countries

ATHENS, Greece — Macedonia’s president said Wednesday that he would not sign off on a historic deal that would change the country’s name, the most potentially disruptive reaction so far to the agreement with Greece that has received diverging reactions in both countries.

President Gjorge Ivanov said the agreement, which would rename Macedonia as the Republic of North Macedonia, gave too many concessions to Greece.

“Such a harmful agreement, which is unique in the history of mankind, is shameful and unacceptable for me,” Ivanov said in a TV address. “It violates the Constitution (and) the laws ... I will not legalize political illegal agreements.”

The deal reached by the prime ministers of the two countries is expected to be signed by their foreign ministers this weekend. After that, Macedonia’s parliament would vote on it, and if it is approved, Ivanov’s signature would be needed.

If the president refuses to sign, the deal would return to parliament for another vote. Ivanov would have to sign off on the agreement if it is passed a second time.

The name dispute, which has prevented Macedonia from joining international institutions such as NATO, has roused strong nationalist sentiments and poisoned the two countries’ relations since the Balkan country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece argues that the term “Macedonia” implies a claim on the territory and ancient heritage of its own northern province of the same name — the birthplace of ancient warrior king Alexander the Great.

European Council President Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement Wednesday welcoming the deal and acknowledging that domestic politics still could scuttle it.

“We hope that this unique opportunity to relaunch the wider Western Balkan region’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration will not be wasted,” the statement said. “This agreement sets an example for others on how to consolidate peace and stability across the region.”

The agreement reached by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has strong dissenters, with opponents staging large protests on both sides of the border. The issue threatened to split Greece’s governing coalition, and provoked a rift between Zaev and his president

“Everything that is sacred to Macedonia is being trampled underfoot, and the unborn are deprived of the right and pride to be Macedonians,” Ivanov said in his address.

Up to 1,500 people held a peaceful protest against the deal outside Macedonia’s parliament in Skopje late Wednesday, chanting “Traitors” and blowing whistles.

Greek opponents of the deal are planning a rally in Athens on Friday. Hardliners on both sides are arguing that their prime ministers conceded too much to reach the deal. In Macedonia, Zaev has said he will put the deal to a referendum in the fall.

Zaev, accompanied by Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, visited Ivanov Wednesday to brief him on the deal. But Ivanov refused to discuss the issue.

“President Ivanov ... left the meeting, refusing to talk about the achievements of this historical agreement,” the government said in a statement.

“I think Prime Minister Zaev’s most difficult task will be to actually explain the deal, to build political consensus for the implementation and, of course, the upcoming referendum,” said political analyst Petar Arsovski.

Greece’s Tsipras also faces opposition at home.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, whose right-wing Independent Greeks party is the coalition partner in Tsipras’ government, said he would oppose the agreement in a parliamentary vote. This would leave the left-wing prime minister dependent on support from political opponents to ratify the deal in parliament.

But Tsipras said he expects Greek lawmakers to easily approve the agreement.

“(It) won’t have trouble in passing,” he said during a TV interview. “It will be approved with a big majority.”

He also ruled out a Greek referendum on the name-change.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the head of New Democracy, Greece’s main opposition party, described the agreement as “deeply problematic” and called on Greece’s president to intervene so the deal can be debated in parliament before it is signed, instead of after.

On the streets of both capitals, reactions were mixed.

“We lost the country, this is a disaster,” 45-year-old lawyer Mila Ivanovska said in Skopje, the Macedonian capital, and began to cry.

Greek opponents were equally angry.

“You, Slavs from Skopje through the centuries, you have never been true Macedonians,” said Athenian resident Konstandinos Goutras.

But for others, the deal marks a welcome end to a protracted dispute.

“North Macedonia is acceptable for me,” said Svetlana Jancevska, a 55-year-old music teacher in Skopje, adding that it will “not damage my identity as Macedonian. The language remains Macedonian and that makes me happy. It was high time for the problem to be solved.”

The dispute was deadlocked for years but hope for a resolution was rekindled after Zaev became Macedonia’s prime minister last year, replacing conservative Nikola Gruevski who had served as prime minister for a decade.

Opponents in Greece object to any use of the term “Macedonia” in their northern neighbor’s name, fearing territorial claims and seeing the use of the name as a usurping of Greece’s ancient heritage. Opponents in Macedonia see any modification of the country’s name as a threat to their national identity.

According to what has been released, the citizens of the newly named country will be called “Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia.” The deal includes provisions for labels to be placed on statues erected in Macedonia depicting the likeness of Alexander the Great which make clear they refer to ancient Greek times.

After it’s ratified by Macedonia, Greece will then back invitations for Macedonia to join NATO and start negotiations on joining the EU. However, Tsipras said, this will be contingent on Macedonia completing the constitutional changes.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...ome-06-13-2018

Macedonia Deal Draws Praise Abroad, Anger at Home

While world leaders greet the agreement between Macedonia and Greece over Macedonia's name, both governments are facing bitter criticism from their political opponents back home

While leaders in Brussels, Washington and the region have showered praise on the agreement between neighbouring Macedonia and Greece over Macedonia's name, the deal has met a cold response from opposition parties back home.

The deal, announced by the leftist governments in Athens and Skopje on Tuesday, envisages Macedonia changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, subject to approval in a referendum in Macedonia that could be held later this year.

The EU's enlargement commissioner, Johannes Hahn, and the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, enthusiastically welcomed the breakthrough, which is expected to unlock Skopje’s stalled EU and NATO membership bids.

“We wholeheartedly congratulate [Greek and Macedonian] Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev for their determination and leadership in reaching this historic agreement between their countries, which contributes to the transformation of the entire region of South-East Europe,” Hahn and Mogherini said in a joint statement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg “warmly” welcomed the news of an end to the long-running Balkan dispute.

“I now call on both countries to finalise the agreement reached by the two leaders. This will set Skopje on its path to NATO membership. And it will help to consolidate peace and stability across the wider Western Balkans,” Stoltenberg said.

The US State Department said that Washington stands ready to support the agreement, as requested by the two countries.

“This resolution will benefit both countries and bolster regional security and prosperity. Prime Ministers Zaev and Tsipras demonstrated vision, courage, and persistence in their pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution. We also commend the commitment of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz for his steadfast efforts over more than two decades to end this dispute,” the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Neighbouring countries, such as Bulgaria, Albania and Kosovo, also welcomed the deal.

Bulgaria said it welcomed the breakthrough, noting that it "opens the road of the Euro-Atlantic integration of our neighbour" and gives "a real chance that by the end of Bulgaria's EU Presidency, there is progress and a horizon given by the EU to start accession negotiations".

Sofia added that the change of name should not be interpreted as grounds for claiming a change in the territory, language, culture, history and identity of either of its neighbours.

According to the agreement, Macedonia will need to amend its constitution to implement the new name for international and domestic use; in return, Greece will lift its blockade on its neighbour's quest to join NATO and the EU.

The definition of the country’s language will remain "Macedonian", as Skopje insisted in the talks. The people’s nationality will be defined as "Macedonian/Citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia".

While the two governments insist that the agreement is fair and protects their core interests, opposition forces in both countries have condemned it as a capitulation and as a defeat.

“If the so-called agreement means accepting a constitutional change as well as international and domestic use of the new name, then that is an agreement by Zoran Zaev for capitulation! I repeat – an agreement for capitulation!” the head of the Macedonian opposition VMRO DPMNE party, Hristijan Mickovski, said on Tuesday.

Similarly, Greek opposition parties, and even one of Tsipras’s partner parties, called the agreement a disgrace.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greece’s main opposition New Democracy party, said any agreement to the "Macedonian language" and "Macedonian ethnicity" was "unacceptable".

Panos Kammenos, head of Greece’s junior ruling party, the Independent Greeks, also said it will not support a compromise name that includes the word "Macedonia".

Despite this, most experts do not think the Greek and Macedonian Prime Ministers will have a problem mustering support in parliament for the agreement. A bigger question hangs over the referendum in Macedonia, likely to be held in the autumn.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Just read the agreement! looking at it. Article 7 just killed us. And article 8 the brainwashing starts.. What was he thinking.

Meanwhile Greece gives up nothing aside from the right to bitch about how another people choose to identify. Shameful.

[Phoenix]

I'm sure a transcript of his speech to the nation will be available shortly. But here is one particular point he made.

Ivanov: what Greece did to Macedonians living in Greece, now it wants to do to Macedonians in Macedonia



I have so much respect for him right now.

That was a ballsy statement from Ivanov...a point previously very seldom made by any Macedonian leaders, not in public at least.

That very point should have been the message sent to the rest of the world...to put into context the total fabrication by the greek side of why they've pursued a name change...as we've seen it has gone way beyond the initial demand to change the name of the country...