tire region.Nationalist pressure,orchestrated largely ship ofthename(“Macedonia isGreek”)fortheen- State –RepublicofMacedonia –,andclaimowner- for Greeknationaliststocontest thenameof spired symbolic gestures offered a broad platform mostly inexperiencedpoliticians. Anumberofunin- states, itwasleftdefencelessandinthehandsof the very beginning. Surrounded by less than friendly result ofYugoslavia’s disintegrationwasbumpyfrom The newcountry’sslippingintoindependenceasa Start Slippery Macedonia’s negotiations withNorthMacedoniainJune2019. Council isexpectedtoapprovethestartofaccession membership hasbeensetinmotionandtheEU has cometoanend:theprocessofacquiringNATO North Macedonia’sinternationalpoliticalblockade and hadtopayahighpoliticalprice.Asresult, despite fiercecriticismintheirrespectivecountries, Zaev andAlexisTsipras concludedtheagreement, 2018. Thetwomainactors,PrimeMinistersZoran the signingofPrespaagreementon12June 2017, aprocesswassetinmotionthatwouldleadto litical constellationwasrightforachange.Inlate was adecadeofnationalistescalation,untilthepo- country’s NATO accessionin2008.Whatfollowed 1990s andescalatedaftertheGreekvetoon term “Macedonia” startedatthebeginningof North Macedonia and Greece over the use of the The conflictbetweenthenowrenamedRepublicof Balkan Investigative ReportingNetwork BIRN NorthMacedonia, Skopje Director Ana Petruseva Price Political of Political Bravery with aHigh Solving the Name Issue: Act An |Western Balkans Overview Geographical to beusedinternationally, whiletheconstitutional foresaw adoubleformula,with thecompositename while theMacedonianposition varied,butmainly this compositenamewould beused“ergaomnes,” The maindifferencewasinthe Greekinsistencethat northern GreekregionofMacedonia. nian Statefromthewholeregion,andespecially a geographicqualifier,thus delimiting theMacedo- acceptable tobothsideswouldincludesomekindof came increasinglyclearthataformulawouldbe bled byUNmediatorMatthewNimetz,anditbe- mained until2018.Avarietyofproposalswereta- name issuewastakenoverbytheUN,whereitre- The processoffindingamediatedsolutiontothe Formula Mediated A Possible such astheOSCE,underprovisionalreference. the countrytoaccessinternationalorganizations, nia’s constitutionandnationalsymbols,enabling was reachedin1995,leadingtochangesMacedo- under intensediplomatic pressure, aninterimaccord tries, an18-monthGreekeconomicembargo, and Following aworseningpoliticalclimateinbothcoun- national bodiesundertheprovisionalreference. agreed nottoblockMacedonia’saccessioninter- a solutiontotheissuewasfound.Greecealso Republic of Macedonia,” which was tobeuseduntil the provisionalreferenceof“theformerYugoslav tually agreedtothecountry’sUNmembershipunder Under muchinternationalpressure,bothsideseven- by theECweredelayedGreekpressure. Furthermore, accession totheUNandrecognition be agreedtowhichcontainedtheterm“Macedonia.” insisting thatnosolutiontothe“nameissue” would Samaras, wasabletoimposeacommonGreekline, by ForeignMinisterandlaterPrimeAntonis

IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2019 183 Geographical Overview | Western Balkans Panorama IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2019 184 Geographical Overview | Western Balkans Panorama traumatic that itdetermined a change of heart and ister Gruevskihasbeendescribed bymanyasso The humiliationsuffered by MacedonianPrimeMin- garding NATO accession. volved andcreatedanatmosphere ofoptimismre- face of US diplomacy, which had become more in- ence ofGreece.Thisdefactovetowasablowtothe the provisionalreferencewasalteredatinsist- including aninvitationforMacedoniatojoinunder last minute change of heart, when a draft resolution The NATO summitin BucharestinApril2008sawa Trauma Bucharest The creasingly improbable. at actuallydeepeningtherift,makingasolutionin- nationalist ruleinMacedonia,policiesweredirected increasingly entrenchedandduringthedecadeof step towardsasolution.Indeed,positionsbecame found thecourageoropportunitytomakeadecisive For morethantwodecades,neitherofthesides for EUaccessionin2005. avoid isolation,especiallyafteritsofficialapplication became more and moredesperateinits attempt to Samaras. Ontheotherhand,MacedonianState the mostprominentexampleofthisbeingAntonis the issue,asitevolvedintoapoliticalcareerenabler, In general, the Greek side was in no hurry to resolve until 2018 over by where it remained the UN, solution to the name was issue taken of finding process The amediated ing thenameofpeopleandlanguage. sides expressedfearsoverissuesofidentity, includ- was theonlyissueofmediationprocess,both the UN’spositionwasthatnameofcountry was the depth of the issues to be negotiated. While both countries.Besides this, onecontentiousissue undermined by political gestures and pressure in However, themediationprocesswaspermanently valid internally. name “RepublicofMacedonia” wouldcontinuetobe Gruevski’s typically childishand“witty” manner“War - this was a 20-metre statue of Alexander, named in in animitationofneo-classicism. Atthecentreofall pian agglomerationofrandom statuesandbuildings capital Skopje’s central area into an absurd, dysto- known as“antiquization” wastherevampingof The mostvisiblemanifestationofwhatcametobe Antonis Samaras prominent example of this being enabler,a political career the most resolve it evolved the as issue, into to sidewas Greek inThe no hurry would bepropagatedonallchannels. control ofthemedia,ensuringthatnewideology to implementalmosttotalstatecapture,including market. Withinadecade,thegovernmentmanaged of increasinglyaggressivepublicationsfloodedthe scrapped fromtheeducationcurricula,andamyriad books wasrevisedaccordingly, civiceducationwas Public places were renamed, the content of school- based on the idea of redefining national identity. government putintoactionamasterplanthatwas nationalist excessinMacedonia.NikolaGruevski’s What followedtheNATO debaclewas a decadeof Excesses Nationalist text tohardentheGreekposition. Minister DoraBakoyanniswasgladtouseasapre- Greek nationalists,whichespeciallythethenForeign It wasalso,ofcourse,quiteachildishprovocation aim wasmainlyinternal,torestorenationalpride,etc. “Alexander theGreat.” Thiswasagesturewhose Gruevski’s governmentrenamedtheSkopjeairport new. Besides,shortlyaftercomingtopowerin2006, but alsohadmore“noble,” ancientroots,wasnot sis that claimed Macedonians were notonly Slavs, feat simplifiesmatters. Among nationalists, the - However, thispartialmystificationofapoliticalde- that ofdescendantsAlexandertheGreat. zation,” i.e.redefining Macedonian identityasbeing brought himontothepathofso-called“antiqui- the sametime, SYRIZA’s Alexis Tsipras brought Democrat ZoranZaevtook office inJune 2017. At process, thenewgovernment, ledbytheSocial wiretaps toppledGruevski’s government.Inabumpy A politicalcrisistiedtoa series ofleaked,secret Finding a Solution by stepintointernationalisolation. ly autocraticgoverningstyledrovethecountrystep negotiating position. On thecontrary, anincreasing- attitude. Itdidnot,however,strengthenMacedonia’s ing PrimeMinisterGruevskitoadopta“toldyouso” hand itworsenedrelationswithGreece,whileallow- reaped fromthismoveisquestionable:ontheone nia inlate2011.However,thebenefitMacedonia ment from1995.TheICJruledinfavourofMacedo- accusing Greeceofbreachingtheinterimagree- plaint withtheInternationalCourtofJustice(ICJ), accession, the Macedonian government filed a com- In 2008, following the Greek refusal to allow NATO Ruling Justice of Court International The nationalredefining identity thatplan on the was of based idea government put into action amaster Nikolain Gruevski’s Macedonia. was of adecade nationalist excess What followed the NATO debacle tion processdidnotenjoyanysuccess. a number of solutions being discussed, the media- Macedonian nameissueseemedprobable.Despite port, especiallyinthenorth,lessasolutionto extremist partiesemergingandgainingmassivesup- slipped intoitsfinancialandeconomiccrisis,with came lessandtenable.ThemoreGreece ists. Moderatepositionstowardsthenameissuebe- Needless tosaythatthiswasfuelforGreeknational- meant asrevenge. Of course,thiswasabarelydisguisedfrontalblow, name wasthattheydidnotwanttooffendGreece. rior onHorse.” Theofficialexplanationforthestatue’s sue intheelection campaign. son byultra-nationalistforces andwillbeamajoris- elections in 2019. The compromise is seen as trea- his coalitioncollapsing,and isfacingparliamentary Tsipras hadtodismisshisForeignMinisteravoid prime ministersfacedfierce opposition at home. While takingaboldleaptowardssolution,both The Compromises 2018, agreement an was reached Dimitrov and Kotzias, and by June into the hands of foreign ministers mediation UN The was put process July 2019. decision. EU accession talks are expected to start in will happen as soon as all members have ratified the tion to North Macedonia to jointheorganization. This and EUaccession.NATO thenextendedaninvita- lifted itsvetoonMacedonia’sNATO membership countries havebeengraduallynormalized.Greece to theinterimaccord and relations between thetwo 2018, anagreementwasreached.Thisputend foreign ministersDimitrovandKotzias, andbyJune The UNmediationprocesswasputintothehandsof putting anendtothepolicyof“antiquization.” port andthemainhighwaythroughcountry, and were agreedupon,suchasrenamingSkopje’sair- rations. Aseriesofconfidence-buildingmeasures Davos, bothprimeministersmadeoptimisticdecla- show ofgoodwillattheWorld EconomicForumin als, includingtheoneeventuallyadopted.Inajoint early 2018andresultedinsomeconcretepropos- the issue.TheUNmediationprocesswasrevivedin sessions, thetwoleadersexpressedawilltoresolve Following some informal, preliminary sounding out relations withAlbaniaandKosovo. neighbourly relationswithBulgaria,andinimproving invested timeandenergyinabilateraltreatyofgood policymaking intheirrespectivecountries.Zaevfirst ran onpromisestochangetraditionalpatternsof have definedthemselvesasnon-nationalist,andboth end totheruleoftraditionalparties.Bothpoliticians about achangeofparadigminGreece,puttingan

IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2019 185 Geographical Overview | Western Balkans Panorama IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2019 186 Geographical Overview | Western Balkans Panorama side forthesetocomeundone.Bothcountrieswill processes, anditcannotbeintheinterestofeither ment hasalreadytriggeredanumberofinternational signs thatitwon’tbeformallycontested.Theagree- from theoppositioninbothcountries,thereareclear Although thenameagreementisunderheavyattack Last Will It tion one. candidate onlyverynarrowlybeatthemainopposi- tions inApril/May2019,whenthegovernment’s blow cameinthefirstroundofpresidentialelec- fect thecredibilityofZaev’sgovernment.Thefirst It is likely that these compromises will negatively af- on ParliamentinApril2017. cluding amnestyforperpetratorsofaviolentattack agree to a numberofvery unpopular measures, in- order tosecuretheparliamentarymajority, hehadto per centquorum,thusweakeningZaev’sposition.In ment, thereferendumdid not meetthe required 50 were overwhelmingly in favour of the Prespa agree- paign runbytheopposition.Althoughresults held inSeptember2018againstaboycottcam- to backasolutionthroughreferendum.Thiswas pa agreement.Inanuninspiredmove,hepromised enact constitutional changes to implement the Pres- cure a two-thirds majority in Parliament in order to Prime MinisterZaev, ontheotherhand,hadtose- Final Agreement signed between the two countries https://balkaninsight. Dispute Name Insight: Balkan 2014 Skopje of cost documenting database BIRN links Relevant es arestillhighlyprevalent. ism, inaregionwhere,unfortunately, suchapproach- a rarevictoryoverethnicnationalismandexclusiv- the regionandwouldcertainlygodowninhistoryas This successstorywouldbesomewhatuniquein formally contested signsare clear that it won’t be opposition in both countries, there attackis under from heavy the Although the name agreement eventually culturalandsocietalones,too. cess, whichwillfirstlydeepeneconomicties,and benefit fromNorthMacedonia’sEUaccessionpro- https://vlada.mk/node/16897?ln=en-gb https://vlada.mk/node/15057?ln=en-gb com/macedonia-name-dispute/ http://skopje2014.prizma.birn.eu.com/en