[url]https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-upbeat-macedonia-name-urges-reforms-balkans/29043849.html[/url]

[B]EU Upbeat On Macedonia Name, Urges Reforms In Balkans [/B]

A senior official says the European Union is "very confident" that a 27-year-old dispute over Macedonia's name, which has hampered the former Yugoslav republic's progress toward NATO and EU membership, [B][U]will be resolved by the end of June[/U][/B].

EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn spoke upon arrival in Sofia on February 16 for talks between EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from countries that are candidates to join the 28-state bloc.

[U]Asked whether the dispute between Macedonia and Greece could be settled during Bulgaria's EU presidency of the bloc, which ends in June, Hahn said he was [B]"very confident about this."[/B][/U]

Greece has long objected to Macedonia's name, contending that it suggests that Skopje has claims to the territory and heritage of the region in northern Greece that has the same name.

The dispute between Greece and Macedonia, which for now is formally known at the UN as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), has persisted since the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Amid a flurry of negotiations, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz has voiced optimism that a solution is within reach.

Leaders of the two countries have also said progress has been made in settling the dispute, and there are indications that an agreement -- if one is reached -- could include Macedonia adding "Upper," "New," or "North" to its name.
[url]https://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia-greece-renames-airport-highway-alexander/29023972.html[/url]

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov told reporters in Sofia [U]that his country has [B]matured[/B] and no longer needs "roots back 2,000 years to feel self-confident."[/U]

"It's better to cooperate and compete on things that matter today than compete on who had more glorious victories and defeats in our rich history," he said.

"We have the same approach towards the difference we have with Greece," he said.

Macedonia became a candidate for EU membership in December 2005, but EU-member Greece blocked the start of negotiations, which requires unanimous agreement by all EU states.

Hahn also reiterated a frequent message from the EU to Western Balkans countries that are prospective members, saying they will have to implement substantial reforms before they can be allowed in.

A new EU strategy says that Serbia and Montenegro, which are considered the front-runners among the six Western Balkans countries that are not members, could be allowed in by 2025 if they meet all the conditions.

"Everybody realizes that the conditions have to be met, that quality comes before speed, that the strategy is not an invitation to do away with conditionality," Hahn said.

In addition to Serbia and Montenegro, the Western Balkans countries that are not EU members are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia.

Also speaking in Sofia, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the strategy addresses "the entire region" and "doesn't create different boxes or categories among the regional parties we have [in] the Western Balkans."

She said that 2025 "is a realistic possible perspective...not only for the two countries that are currently negotiating but also for others that could start to negotiate."

Laying out the new strategy on February 6, Mogherini expressed hope that all six countries will join "not in a faraway future but in our generation."

[QUOTE=Vangelovski;172028]Mate, I'm about to be a stateless, nationless man. The time for being diplomatic was in 1991. Protests were called for in early 1992, but by the end of the year we should have had our night of the long knives. Anything but civil war beyond 1993 has been absolute horseshit.

Once this is done, they will never reverse it. Just like the ventilator that everyone over there now calls the "Macedonian" flag.[/QUOTE]

I think you may have mistaken admiration as criticism

There is nothing you have said that I disagree with :)

[QUOTE=Tomche Makedonche;172031]I think you may have mistaken admiration as criticism

There is nothing you have said that I disagree with :)[/QUOTE]I didn't, I was just having another bitch :)

[QUOTE=dvenov;172022]Because they are already started and [B][I]ending them abruptly[/I][/B] isn't the right way to go about it.[/QUOTE]

To end something after 25 years would hardly be considered abrupt, especially when nothing positive has been achieved by the Macedonian side, instead they have made concession after concession for zero reward.
It's the real life example of that 'Simpsons' episode where Bart continues to stick his finger in the power socket...and doesn't learn anything from the experience...

[QUOTE=dvenov;172022]Regardless of the fact that the negotiations are, for the lack of better word, 'forced' upon us by EU/NATO, we will show more maturity if we are willing to have a dialogue since we've already been shoehorned into this by EU/NATO. [I][B][COLOR="Red"]The same is true for Greece, they've been shoehorned into this as well[/COLOR][/B][/I].[/QUOTE]

Poor greece, my heart goes out for those poor cunts being "shoehorned into this as well"...fuck off mate, play your bouzouki somewhere else.

You don't show "maturity" by negotiating your name, national symbols and history, not only to the greeks but to your other neighbours...and at each sitting you "negotiate" another piece of your identity...that's not "maturity", that's merely an act of a people who are self-loathing and gutless, a people who have no red-lines and no self respect or dignity.

[QUOTE=dvenov;172022]What happens at the end of the dialogue is another matter. Im not saying there's no room to be worried or afraid, Im very worried as well, but not from our people or the fyromians as they are called here, but by our government and the international community who are not very open about the things that are discussed.[/QUOTE]

Wake up dickhead...what happens at the end of the dialogue is called the endgame...this is the morning you wake up scratching your arse and picking your nose, wondering what just happened...although the journey took 25+ years, you've missed every sign post and fork in the road, only to run head first into a nondescript, featureless dead end.

[QUOTE=dvenov;172022]I'm of personal belief that forcing this dialogue solely for the purpose of joining EU and NATO, 2 organizations that may or may not exist 10/20 or 50 years from now, [B][I][COLOR="red"]is not the wisest choice if we consider our long term national interests.[/COLOR][/I][/B] [/QUOTE]

Really..."not the wisest choice", Einstein...?
So why the fuck is it a good idea to allow the negotiations to run their course...when the fuckin' course is all about getting to this stage...you fuckin' fyromian-moron!!!

[QUOTE=dvenov;172022]But as I said, we are in the position that we're in and continuing to talk is the better option because it shows that as a country and as people we are willing to talk to resolve problems, regardless of how absurd this whole thing is in the first place.[/QUOTE]

No, No, No...all it shows is that you're a spineless self loathing turd that has absolutely zero self respect, nor a passionate and willing custodian of Macedonian culture and identity...

[QUOTE=Phoenix;172033]To end something after 25 years would hardly be considered abrupt, especially when nothing positive has been achieved by the Macedonian side, instead they have made concession after concession for zero reward.[/QUOTE]

Believe it or not, in a recent article I read it tried to describe Greece recently agreeing to allow Macedonia to have the word Macedonia in some form within the new name was the most recent concession in the negotiation process and that everyone is now turning to Macedonia to finally make a concession in the negotiations :wacko::turned::stuart:

[QUOTE=Tomche Makedonche;172034]Believe it or not, in a recent article I read it tried to describe Greece recently agreeing to allow Macedonia to have the word Macedonia in some form within the new name was the most recent concession in the negotiation process and that everyone is now turning to Macedonia to finally make a concession in the negotiations :wacko::turned::stuart:[/QUOTE]When you demand absolutely everything from someone and then concede on one of those demands 30 years later, it would look like a concession to the untrained eye and the average Macedonian.

[QUOTE=Phoenix;172033]Poor greece, my heart goes out for those poor cunts being "shoehorned into this as well"...fuck off mate, play your bouzouki somewhere else.[/QUOTE]Oh come on Phoenix. Greece was just minding its own business, smashing its plates. They wanted to be Macedonia's friend but NATO/EU pulled the shoehorn out and shoehorned the shoehorn out of them. Don't you remember the shoehorning back in '92? It was the Chinese year of the shoehorn.

[QUOTE=Vangelovski;172035]When you demand absolutely everything from someone and then concede on one of those demands 30 years later, it would look like a concession to the untrained eye and the average Macedonian.[/QUOTE]

They were literally trying to make it out as though the Greeks were being the reasonably generous party in all of this whilst the stubborn Macedonians hadn’t conceded anything to date... and from memory this shit came from a “European” media outlet.

[QUOTE=Tomche Makedonche;172037]They were literally trying to make it out as though the Greeks were being the reasonably generous party in all of this whilst the stubborn Macedonians hadn’t conceded anything to date... and from memory this shit came from a “European” media outlet.[/QUOTE]Poor Zaev. Imagine the pressure he feels. It must be terrible having his name dragged through mud like that. Imagine being called a stubborn dirty little nationalist.

[QUOTE=Tomche Makedonche;172034]Believe it or not, in a recent article I read it tried to describe Greece recently agreeing to allow Macedonia to have the word Macedonia in some form within the new name was the most recent concession in the negotiation process and that everyone is now turning to Macedonia to finally make a concession in the negotiations :wacko::turned::stuart:[/QUOTE]

That's classic negotiating strategy...both sides begin with extreme opposing positions and slowly work their way to a middle ground...the only problem has been that our side has never negotiated from an extreme starting point...the greeks have convinced the world that Macedonia is a threat to greek security (as totally absurd as that idea is)...it has convinced the world that we're appropriating 'greek culture' by associating ourselves with ancient history and symbolism...the greeks have fooled the world that their society has an unbroken lineage to the ancient world...for the greek side, these are all extreme starting points in their negotiating tactics against Macedonia...our side has already conceding huge ground in disassociating themselves from historical symbols and culture, they've further confused and muddied the waters with accepting certain migration theories...all to appease the rampant racism of the greek side in some 'clever' negotiating strategy...

On a linear scale where zero (0) is the so called 'middle ground' and one side starts its negotiation from starting point 10+ve and the other side starts at the other end of the scale at 10-ve a negotiated settlement at zero may be deemed an acceptable outcome for both parties...but the Macedonian's have started at Zero and are negotiating with the greeks who are starting at 10-ve...we've already been pulled into (very) negative territory...