Policy Brief on The Name Dispute: Former, Nameless, or…

on Aug 10, 10 • by NVO Infocentar •

It may seem that there is an abundance of information on the name dispute since the media are flooded with reports, still the citizens lack the full picture of the actual negotiations and Macedonia's positions in the talks...

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The NGO Info - centre and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET),in cooperation with the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia, havemonitored the media coverage and the manner in which the the general public wasinformed about the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece since the start of2010.

The media are flooded with reports on the dispute, the information mostly coming from journalists themselves, foreign diplomatic representatives and the Government of Macedonia. Members of the press have invested continuous efforts to determine how far the negotiations have advanced, were any new proposals for the name of the country brought to the table, which are the positions held by the two sides, will the dispute be resolved soon, and will Macedonia acquire a date for starting EU accession negotiations? Foreign diplomatic representatives mostly encourage Macedonia to reach a compromise with Greece, noting that such a solution will open the door to EU membership and will preserve the Macedonian identity. The Government, on the other hand, continues to pledge its preparedness to enter into real negotiations with Greece, adding that our neighbours to the South will have to adopt a more constructive approach and that a compromise is possible only if it does not threaten, in any way or fashion, Macedonian national and linguistic identity.

Therefore, although it may seem that there is an abundance of information on the name dispute, the citizens lack the full picture of the actual negotiations and Macedonia’s positions in the talks. The Government further contributes to the confusion, commissioning confusing opinion polls that ask the citizens to compare the importance of Macedonian identity and name with European Integrations, with the Prime Minister saying that, should Macedonia get a proposal like –Republic of Northern Macedonia for universal international use – the Government can only organize a referendum in which he personally would vote against the proposal.

In view of the points listed above, the delicate current political situation and the need for Macedonia to get back on track with the EU agenda, the NGO Infocentre and the Macedonian Centre for European Training developed this Policy brief on the namedispute, which aims to support the public debate on whether Macedonia should stay “Former”, or remain “nameless” or might, after all, reach a compromise with Greece; to encourage the negotiations and give a constructive contribution to the solution of this bilateral dispute of key importance for the future of Macedonia.

Policy Brief on the Name Dispute: Former, Nameless, or… (139KB)