Macedonia to receive NATO membership invitation: defence minister

Macedonia deputy prime minister and defense minister Radmila Sekerinska announced Tuesday that Macedonia would receive an invitation to join NATO next week.

According to Sekerinska, the membership invitation to Macedonia will be extended in Brussels during the summit scheduled for July 11 and 12.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian government adopted the strategic defence review (SDR) earlier on Tuesday.

"It took one year to complete the SDR, which is an ambitious and crucial document that defines defense and its development, as well as the defense agenda of the country," underlined Sekerinska.

The new SDR takes into consideration the new global challenges, and is the result of an overall consultation with institutions related to defense, including the president, according to Sekerinska. Enditem

Macedonia may develop even outside EU, NATO, says German ambassador

“Macedonia’s development does not depend on the membership in the EU and NATO. The progress and the reforms may continue even outside these organisations,” said German Ambassador to Skopje Gudrun Steinacker, writes Macedonian Vecer daily.

In her words, Macedonia deserves the EU and NATO membership and the country has met all the criteria, but Germany cannot react in separation to all the rest of the member states.

“Geographically speaking, Macedonia belongs to Europe and it is a member of many European organisations,” Steinacker said further.

Macedonia’s Plea for a Seat in NATO Falls on Busy Ears

More than two decades after an independent Macedonia was born from the bloody ethnic wars in the Balkans, its desire to join NATO remains stalled by an old question: “What’s in a name?”

Greece, an alliance member since 1952, was vehemently opposed to initial desires of its neighbor to adopt the name Republic of Macedonia, saying it implied territorial claims to the Greek province of the same name, an assertion Macedonia has publicly disavowed.

To remove that hurdle, the government in the capital, Skopje, years ago said the country would apply to international organizations under an interim name until the bilateral dispute was resolved. It has since joined the United Nations and applied to NATO and the European Union as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a name usually reduced to its acronym, Fyrom.

But as NATO presidents and prime ministers prepare for a summit meeting next month in Chicago, the ascent of new members is not even on the agenda. Meetings will focus on the future of the alliance war effort in Afghanistan – mostly how to end it — and ways to reshape member militaries around a concept called “smart defense.”

Macedonia’s foreign minister, Nikola Poposki, is in Washington this week to make the case for Fyrom. He cites a list of statistics to prove that his tiny nation – with just 2 million people – already is giving more than its fair share to NATO missions, even as just an aspirant to membership.

On a per-capita basis, Macedonia is the fifth-largest contributor of forces to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, providing about 175 people responsible for providing security around the NATO headquarters in Kabul and across the Afghan capital’s diplomatic zone, which includes the American Embassy. Macedonian troops also are training Afghan security forces.

The effort eats up about 10 percent of the republic’s defense budget. (Macedonia previously contributed about 500 troops to the American-led effort in Iraq.)

“We are an exporter of security forces to NATO,” Mr. Poposki said in an interview on Thursday. “But we are in the waiting room for membership.”

He pledged that Macedonian troops would remain in Afghanistan until the formal end of the NATO mission, now set for December 2014, and said that there was no pressure in Parliament for an early withdrawal, as there is in some member nations.

He said Greece’s security would be only enhanced by dropping its objections, as adding a NATO member to its borders would bind Macedonia to all the articles of the alliance’s mutual-defense pact. “We are no threat to the territorial integrity of Greece,” Mr. Poposki said.

There are few indications of movement on the issue, however. Greece is in the midst of a financial crisis, hoping to avoid becoming the first member nation of the European economic zone to default.

In such an environment, there is little incentive within the Greek political system to resolve an international dispute over its neighbor.

Constitutional name more important than EU, NATO accession: polls

Preserving the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia turns to be more important for citizens than country’s accession in the EU and NATO, state the results of a poll conducted by the Macedonian European Affairs Directorate, the online edition of Greek Naftemporikireports.

66.5% of the respondents have backed the constitutional name of Republic of Macedonia, while 26.2% think that the accession in the European-Atlantic structures is more important.
There is serious difference in the answers mainly depending on the ethnic origin of the people inquired. 

For instance, 82.1% of the Slavomacedonians think the name is more important that the EU and NATO, while 77.8% of the Albanians point at the integration in the two organizations, Naftemporiki informs.

The poll was conducted as a phone survey on July 3-4 among 1,100 people.

Macedonia to use Latvian experience with EU, NATO integration processes

Macedonian, Latvian Presidents Gjorge Ivanov and Valdis Zatlers discussed Wednesday in Skopje on sharing the experiences with EU, NATO integration processes and further bolstering of the overall cooperation, in particular the economic one.

- Opening of the EU entry talks is Macedonia's top priority, as it is a cohesive system for a society like Macedonia, Ivanov said at a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart.

Macedonia and Latvia should bolster the cooperation, in particular the trade exchange, which is now at symbolic level, Ivanov said. To that effect the two Presidents initiated an organization of a business forum and setting of a legal frame.

Today, the Ministries of Defense of both countries signed a cooperation agreement, covering the defense and security policy, democratic control of armed forces, protection, exchange of information on joint initiatives within the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), training of civil, military personnel...

Latvia will share its EU, NATO experience with Macedonia, including the country's mistakes in the course of the integration processes, Zatlers said, expressing his support for Macedonia's accession to the European, Euro-Atlantic institutions.

- You should contribute to this goal on daily basis. Sometimes you will make some sacrifices in favor of a compromise or consensus. If we look at EU we will see that sometimes decisions are being made for a very long period because many countries should reach a consensus. But a decision made on such basis is genuinely solid, Zatlers said.

Latvia has been considering the Western Balkan countries as part of Europe, he added.

I know of no other country to express such high support for the EU membership, Ivanov said in regard to a recent poll commissioned by the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA), which shows decline of citizens' enthusiasm for joining the European family.

It will not be good if there are no Euro-sceptics, said Zatlers, who is paying his first visit to Macedonia. 

New Macedonian Army contingent goes to Afghanistan

A new contingent of the Macedonian Army departed for Afghanistan on Friday, Macedonian Kanal 5 television station reports.

This is the tenth contingent of the Macedonian Army. It is comprised of 149 soldiers, the most senior national representative and two officers, who will be positioned in Kabul. The Macedonian Army sent its first contingent in 2006, the television station adds.

Konjanovski, Milososki meet Rasmussen, NATO ambassadors

Defense Minister Zoran Konjanovski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki took part Wednesday at the North-Atlantic Council's session in the format 28+1 to discuss Macedonia's progress in implementing the 11th cycle of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), followed by a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Konjanovski and Milososki referred to the ongoing reforms in Macedonia's army, administration, judiciary, in line with NATO accession criteria.

"Ambassadors voiced enormous support to Macedonia's reform process. Taking into consideration its capacity and resources, Macedonia is obviously one of the biggest contributors in NATO-led missions, especially ISAF", said FM Milososki after the session.

The meeting also focused on regional stability, with Macedonia being an active stakeholder in the process.

Milososki underlined that large credit went to the overwhelming support of Macedonian citizens to the country's NATO accession.

Moreover, Konjanovski and Milososki stressed Macedonia and Greece lead intensive talks regarding the imposed name dispute, with the former expecting greater flexibility and pragmatism from the latter, resulting in the issue's settlement that would enable FYR Macedonia's NATO accession, but also enhance regional stability.
According to Defense Minister Konjanovski, all ambassadors who took part in the debate confirmed that FYR Macedonia has done its job, meeting all membership conditions, but the name issue remains to be solved.

"Regarding defense reforms, we were encouraged to maintain the current tempo", added Konjanovski.

He said Macedonia remained committed to ISAF and other missions, proper training of Macedonian Army (ARM) members, army depolitization, as well as multiethnic troops, something which was saluted by meeting participants

Belgium Aims To Help Resolve Macedonia-Greece Deadlock

The Belgian EU presidency is willing to help facilitate an agreement between Macedonia and Greece on the name dispute in order to make the start of accession talks between Skopje and Brussels possible.


“Belgium will endeavor to seek an agreement to start accession negotiations,” Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today. Leterme made the remarks while presenting the priorities of his government for its six month presidency of the EU.


This readiness to help Macedonia on its European path was also expressed on Tuesday when Leterme met in Brussels with his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski.


Leterme said that his government would attempt in coming weeks and months to negotiate in coordination with Matthew Nimetz, the UN mediator for the name dispute. “I sincerely hope that with the initiative of the Belgian presidency we can promote a solution,” Macedonian media quoted Leterme as saying after his meeting with Gruevski. “People deserve this and Europe deserves this,” he added.


Athens and Skopje are locked in a long lasting spat over the use of the name Macedonia. Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims over its own northern province, which is also called Macedonia.


Athens blocked Skopje’s invitation to join NATO in 2008 and has stalled its efforts to join the EU over the unresolved row.


Gruevski, speaking after the meeting on Tuesday, said that many things depend on the steps that will be undertaken by the Greek government, Macedonian media report.


“We don’t want to insist that we are either optimists or pessimists, but we want to find a solution through a process that is led by Mr. Nimetz and we want to continue to search for the solution which would normalize relations with Greece and which would be acceptable for both sides,” Gruevski said.

Yes to NATO, but only as Macedonia

Sixty-five percent of the Macedonian citizens consider that Macedonia should not change the name to join NATO, show results of public opinion poll conducted by “Societas Civilis” Institute for Democracy at Ministry of Defence’s request.


Out of respondents who negatively answered on change of name in exchange for NATO admission, 84% are Macedonians, 7.1% are Albanians and 8.9% are other communities.


Regarding question how would you vote if referendum on Macedonia’s admission to NATO were held next week, 80.2% of the respondents answered positively and 10.8 answered negatively.


The largest number of respondents positively assessed the work of the Ministry of Defence and role of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia in peacekeeping missions.


The public opinion poll was conducted in the period from April 2 to 10, 2010.

Greek by Name

The satire "Greek by name" from December 12, 2007, is characterized as successfully funny and even humorous, sadly however reality is seldom a "comedy". If for the Greeks the "name" issue REPRESENTS "Support for the State Philosophy" which is overly excessive, then for the Macedonians it represents a risk of "losing their country and ethnic existence". Macedonians have been using this name for at least 1,500 years or since many tribes settled the Balkans and mixed with the indigenous people. Greeks on the other hand have gained Macedonian territory, specifically their northern province which for the longest time they called "Northern Greece" only 95 years ago when they took possession of 51% of Macedonia in 1913. Only in 1989 did Greece change the name of its northern province to "Macedonia" under the motto "Attack is the best defence". It is absurd that Macedonians are even talking to the Greeks knowing that they have little chance of making progress in these unfair negotiations. Thanks to Greece's threat of veto and its irresponsible use of it as well as its position in NATO and the EU it has all the help it needs from the European Community to hold Macedonia back as long as it wants. Greece very cunningly and abruptly rejected Macedonia's name in 1992 in Lisbon before anyone had a chance to "examine the facts". This rejection also came with misinformation and confusion leading the unaware European ministers to come to the wrong conclusion. Greece lead the European Community into believing that the name "Macedonia" was of no importance to the Republic of Macedonia because allegedly this was a name created by Tito when Yugoslavia became a state of republics in 1944. Thus Greece's strong objection to the name was laid on a foundation of lies. The EU states, without consulting historical data and without examining the facts, were quick to take Athens's side. A similar scenario was repeated in 1993 when Macedonia applied for membership into the United Nations. It seems that justice is not important these days and the sacred Greek might is always placed ahead of Macedonia's right. If we examine past approaches to the name issue taken by our American "mediator" of the UN, we will find that the whole process is biased in Greece's favour. Actions taken during briefings in Skopje in 1994 and 1995 at best can be described as "desperate". With the exception of naming the Skopje Airport "Alexander the Great", every gesture Macedonia made in Greece's view should be positive but from what experience has shown Greece has been relentless and has, without thinking twice, used all ammunition delivered to its hands against Macedonia.
Macedonia on the other hand has a great heritage which modern Europe considers to be the cradle of western culture. Ironically even though it is well known that Alexander the Great was Macedonian, no one complained when Greece named its airport "Alexander the Great" in late 1989. What justification did the Greeks have? That Alexander the Great spread "Hellenism" to the world during his expeditions? If that were true, and no one can deny that modern Europe in its entirety has profited immensely from Hellenism, then why is there not a single European nation (besides Greece) Greek today? Why is there not a single nation outside of Europe, where Alexander ventured, Greek today? When Slav tribes were settling the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries AD the ancient Greeks had already abandoned Greece and others settled in their place. For well known reasons the Greeks left Greece at the end of the 4th century but the descendents of the ancient Macedonians remained all while Macedonia was a Roman province. Thus the descendents of the ancient Macedonians lived in Macedonia as the descendents of the ancient Thracians lived in Thrace and as the descendents of the Ancient Epirians lived in Epirus. In time these people assimilated with the Slav tribes who in turn adopted those lands as their home and left their genetic markers in the modern populations. So today we have Slav and ancient Macedonian genetic markers in the blood of the modern Macedonians the same as we have Thracian genetic markers in the blood of the modern Bulgarians and modern Turks living in Eastern Thrace. The same can be said about the modern Greeks and Albanians who carry in their blood the genetic markers from the ancient Epirians. Even though it is well known that the Turko-Tatar Bulgars settled the Eastern Balkans 150 years after the Slav tribes and took the Slavic language from them, does not prevent the modern Bulgarians from asserting that today's Macedonians allegedly speak "Bulgarian". Further forward in time, during the 9th century according to George Shtatmiller author of the book "History of South-Easter Europe" the Greeks, drawn by the Slav settlements of Greece, returned to their former fatherland and assimilated the Slavs and Albanians settling that region. So how can the Greeks then claim to be related to the ancient Macedonians? Contrary to any Greek assertions, Greeks in reality never settled Macedonian territories, not in ancient nor any other time until the 20th century. Macedonians on the other hand have conquered and have occupied Greek lands. The ancient Macedonians, through the League of Corinth, held hegemony over the Greeks for over 120 years during which time they also occupied Athens for a short period. Thus prior to the 20th century Macedonia was never Greek, not during Roman times when both Macedonia and Greece were Roman colonies, not during the Middle Ages, not during Ottoman times and certainly not until after the 1912, 1913 Balkan Wars when Greece, for the first time, by virtue of conquest, was awarded Macedonian lands including Solun and parts of Thrace. And this Greece did not do alone but with help from its neighbours Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro and with the blessings of the Great Powers. Thanks to the Great Powers, Russia in particular, for their support of the four Balkan monarchies which united and declared war on the Ottomans without themselves being swallowed up by Austro-Hungary or Romania.
Let us also remind the world that the Thracians and Epirians disappeared after 1913 only as a result of brutal hellenization at the hands of the Greek state, brutal Bulgarization at the hands of the Bulgarians and Islamization due to Ottoman influence. The Macedonians occupied by Serbia to some extent survived Serbian attempts at assimilation and began to regain their Macedonian consciousness under the cover of Yugoslavia.
It is sad to say that Macedonia's annexation in 1913 happened with the blessing of International right which now reminds it of the shame it committed. It is not fear of the Macedonian hammer that Greece is afraid but of the fear of facing its own shame in public.
As protectors of the European heritage which has flourished for centuries, European Union parliamentarians should be ashamed of forcing Macedonia, a state which in the past has done so much for Europe, to accept a farcical name like "FYROM". This again proves that Europe values business and money far above justice, truth, etiquette and morality.
If this small country has learned anything, it has learned how unfair Europe can be. The 2001 Ohrid Agreement was forced upon it by Brussels bureaucrats without even examining the facts or consulting history. Europe has shown no care for the dangers under the sword of Damacles it has created for this young state. With this kind of attitude how does Europe expect to hold a united existence?
The only option Macedonia is left with to protect its rights is to present its case to the international community.

Source(s):

Hans Lothar Schteppan is a former German Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia and author of the book "Macedonian Knot"

Council tells Macedonia to be 'pragmatic' on name

The head of the Council of Europe says Macedonia and Greece should take a more pragmatic approach to solving their long-standing name dispute.
Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland visited Skopje, Macedonia's capital, Monday. Macedonia takes over the chairmanship of the council's executive between May and November this year.


Jagland met Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and said he hoped the name dispute would not overshadow the country's role as chairman.


Greece says its neighbor's use of the name Macedonia implies territorial claims on its own northern region of Macedonia. Athens has blocked Macedonia's NATO accession, citing the dispute, and is threatening to do the same with its bid to join the European Union.

Macedonia Military Reforms Stalled

Ever since Macedonia failed to join NATO in 2008 due to its “name” dispute with neighbouring Greece, a number of reforms to the Macedonian army have ground to a halt, local security analysts say.
They note that in some areas the country has even made steps backwards, including cutting money for the envisaged army modernization and for reaching the desired level of interoperability with NATO forces.


“The government should continue reforming the army, not only because of the recent criticism but also because of the goal of joining a modern defense system,” Lidija Georgieva, a security, defense and peace studies professor at Skopje University, told local daily Vreme.


Macedonia currently spends 1.7 per cent of its budget on its armed forces, while NATO's standards dictate that a country which applies for membership should spend at least 2.3 per cent for this purpose. In this year’s budget, the army was given some €23 million less than in 2009.


This was one of the main concerns expressed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during his January meeting with Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski, the daily reports.


Despite the cuts Macedonia continues to maintain its course towards NATO, the dean at the Skopje Philosophy Faculty, Trajan Gocevski told Vreme.


“The main criticism relates to the level of prepareness of the units intended for international peacekeeping missions. This year we should have 600 soldiers ready for such missions and by 2013 we should scale that number up to 1200,” he said.


Skopje currently has some 250 soldiers deployed in the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, more than many of the NATO member countries.


Macedonian Defense Minister Zoran Konjanovski, visiting the Macedonian Army contingent stationed in Afghanistan, said on Monday that Macedonia is a small country, but a serious contributor in the anti-terrorism coalition,


In 2008 Macedonia was denied entrance to NATO due to the Greek blockade over the unresolved bilateral “name” spat. NATO has reiterated that the country is welcome to join the alliance as soon as the row with Greece is resolved.

Barack Obama did not invite Macedonia to Prague

U.S. President Barack Obama did not invite Macedonia together with 11 more European countries that significantly contribute to NATO missions to attend the official dinner within the U.S.–Russian summit in Prague, Macedonian Vreme daily writes.


The newspaper comments that Macedonia is fourth in terms of the number of troops in Afghanistan per capita, but that is not enough for it to receive an invitation from the U.S. administration, which is the host of the event. Only NATO members from Central and Eastern Europe were invited, the newspaper says.


The heads of state or government of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia were invited to Prague.

Macedonia can access NATO by force

Due to the fear of possible destabilization of Macedonia, U.S., together with several powerful European countries, have been exerting pressure on Greece to allow the country to access NATO by the end of the year, Macedonian Vreme newspaper writes., quoting unknown diplomatic recourses. The main reason most of the Alliance member states to hasten Macedonia to access NATO is the warnings for new ethnical tension of the resolution of the name issue are delayed. The other reason is the more and more tensed atmosphere in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Leader of NATO discuss several possibilities Macedonia to open accession talks with the Alliance and to overcome its biggest problem-the name issue, newspaper writes.

Dutch Ambassador: Macedonia in NATO this year

Dutch ambassador Simone Filipini said that Macedonia would not have to wait long to enter NATO and that this would probably happen already this year. "Everybody in NATO hopes that Macedonia will become a full member already this year," said the ambassador at the lecture Contribution of the Republic of Macedonia to Global Safety and Stability, which was held at Military Academy in Skopje.

Filipini added that NATO was not only a military, but also a civil and political organisation and that the public must be made aware of this fact. She expressed hope thatMacedonia would soon solve the name dispute with Greece and that bilateral relations between the two countries would become more stable.

NATO chief urges Macedonia to solve name row with Greece

NATO Secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Friday urged Macedonia to solve its name row with Greece, saying it's the only obstacle on its way to NATO.

"Unfortunately NATO can't play any role in this matter. We wish to see it settled as soon as possible," de Hoop Scheffer, who is on a farewell visit to Macedonia, said after meeting with the country's leaders.

According to reports reaching here from Skopje, the NATO chief reaffirmed that NATO's door is always open to western Balkan countries, because the region's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is the only recipe for its lasting stability and security.

Macedonia's NATO bid was thwarted by Greece over the 19-year-long name dispute between the two neighbors at the alliance's summit in Bucharest last April.

Athens has contended that the former Yugoslav state's determination to call itself Macedonia has concealed territorial ambitions over its own northern province of the same name.

De Hoop Scheffer expressed satisfaction with the fact that nine new members joined NATO on his watch as Secretary-general, hoping for Macedonia to become the 10th.

His mandate as NATO chief will soon come to an end. He will be succeeded by former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is going to take office on Aug. 1.

Scheffer - Macedonia fulfills criteria for membership in NATO

Macedonia has fulfilled all criteria for membership in the Alliance and what remains now is to resolve the dispute with Greece over the name of Macedonia, NATO chief said today.

At the meeting with the outgoing Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski, NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said that he expected for negotiations aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solutions to intensify once the elections in both countries are over.

The interlocutors agreed that the in the following period, the efforts should focus on creating an atmosphere of good-neighborly relations between the two countries.

What's In A Name? You Wouldn't Ask That Question If You Lived In Macedonia

In searching for the perfect ancient hero to arouse a sense of national identity in their modern-day citizens, Macedonian officials have settled on a provocative spokesperson -- Alexander the Great.

The image of the ancient Greek king and warrior, who at the time of his death in 323 BC had conquered most of the known world, beams intently down on residents from billboards with the message "You are Macedonia."

A lengthy television ad depicts him on the eve of a crucial battle, calling on his fighters -- in the fluent South Slavic strains of contemporary Macedonian -- to be decisive and unafraid of the challenges ahead.

Even Skopje's tiny international airport is in on the act. Until recently, the hub of national carrier Macedonian Airlines' two-plane fleet was called Petrovec Airport. Now it is the Alexander the Great Airport.

Travelers at the airport walking past a massive bust of the ancient conqueror appear indifferent to the encroaching hellenization. But the rebranding frenzy is raising tempers in Greece.

'Expression Of Our Identity'

Athens has spent the past 17 years in a standoff with its northern neighbor over the right to claim the king -- and the name Macedonia -- as its own. Greece has blocked Skopje's NATO entry over the bitter row, and has threatened to scupper its EU bid, as well.

But Sefik Duraki, a Macedonian government spokesperson, appears unrepentant.

"We see this [revival of our ancient Greek past] as an expression of our identity, a kind of nation-building exercise, and a confirmation of our statehood," Duraki says. "It’s not our intention to be provocative."

Officials in Athens might disagree. Buildings, roads, and squares in Macedonia are renamed on an increasingly frequent basis to honor the ancient king and his forebears.

Duraki himself this month announced at least two such rechristenings. A major north-south trans-European highway was to be renamed Alexander of Macedon highway. And a Skopje football stadium will now be called the Philip II football arena -- in honor of Alexander’s father.

Alexander the Great was born in Pella, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. That heritage, Skopje says, gives it the right to claim the warrior's image as its own. But Pella is located in what is now Greek Macedonia, and Athens argues that the only country with the right to Alexander's legacy is Greece.

Powerful Lever

The issue has divided the two countries since the early 1990s, when the Socialist Republic of Macedonia split from Yugoslavia and constitutionally anointed itself the Republic of Macedonia.

By focusing the public’s attention on the glories of the past, [the government has] found the perfect way to provide an escape from reality.
Greece objected, and insists on using the provisional reference of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in its official dealings with Skopje.

It has also exercised a far more powerful lever in blocking Macedonia's NATO and EU bids unless Skopje adopts a name that is acceptable to the Greek leadership.

Officials in Macedonia announced in November it would take Greece to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for blocking the NATO invite, which it says contravenes a 1995 interim accord between the two countries.

In the meantime, Skopje continues to keep its ties with the military alliance warm, with the commander of NATO's allied joint force command, Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, arriving in Macedonia on January 30 for a two-day visit.

Many Macedonians say they are tired of their government's grandstanding, which has only grown more pronounced as the country approaches presidential and local elections on March 22.

Biljana Vankovska, a political science professor at Skopje University, says she worries the dispute with Greece is doing their country irreparable harm by blocking the path toward Western integration.

"By focusing the public’s attention on the glories of the past, [the government has] found the perfect way to provide an escape from reality,” Vankovska says.

The unremitting dispute between Macedonia and Greece has also proved a mounting source of irritation to the international community.

The United Nations has appointed a special mediator in the quarrel, and is urging Skopje to accept the "Republic of Northern Macedonia" for international purposes -- and pressing Athens to drop its veto threats at NATO and the EU if Skopje does.

The EU, which is struggling to slowly herd the Balkan countries onto a membership track, has appeared almost exasperated with the dispute, and signaled particular frustration after Skopje's decision on the Alexander of Macedon highway.

Hellenization Campaign

The International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank this month issued a report warning the name dispute may undermine efforts to stabilize the western Balkans, and called on both Athens and Skopje to take steps toward repairing the relationship.

The ICG called on Macedonian officials to accept the UN's name proposal, and to reverse its hellenization campaign and restore the original names to the Skopje airport and other buildings and roads rechristened in recent years.

It also urged other NATO and EU members to "actively encourage" Greece to drop its NATO and EU objections and to "respond positively" to any concessions by Skopje on the name issue.

Some Macedonians say they would welcome an opportunity to strip their country of some of the government's overreaching attempts to co-opt Alexander the Great.

After all, says Todor Cepreganov, the director of the National History Institute at Skopje's Saints Cyril and Methodius University, there is more to Macedonian history than ancient history.

“I don’t agree that in our search for identity Macedonia should only look back to ancient times," he says. "Yes, we have our roots in ancient times, but we shouldn’t abandon our Slavic roots, either."

Macedonia must solve name dispute to become NATO member state: NATO Commander

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Headquarters Naples arrived in Skopje for a two-day working visit. He expressed his regret Macedonia did not become NATO member state despite it made the necessary reforms, Makfax agency informs.
Fitzgerald said at a meeting with Macedonian President Branko Crvenovski the problem with the name dispute with Greece is the only issue, which is registered as an obstacle for Macedonia to become NATO member state. He expressed his hope the name dispute will be solved.

Macedonia warns of Georgia fallout from blocked bids

Macedonia's deputy prime minister warned on Friday that Russian military intervention in Georgia could encourage fringe elements in his country if its bids to join the EU and NATO were not unblocked quickly.

Ivica Bocevski said there were two possible spinoffs in the Western Balkans from the Georgian crisis -- a spread of pro-European ideas or a spread of uncertainty.

He warned that further delay to efforts by the former Yugoslav republic to join the European and NATO could encourage 'marginal forces'.

'We need the opening of the negotiations, we need to see this process started and we need to see this process moving,' he told a seminar in Brussels. 'If the EU and NATO perspective is prolonged, cynicism can easily kick in.''We can imagine the whole European periphery as a great chessboard...if this chessboard is not filled by our figures, then the one playing against us can easily fill their place.'

Bocevski criticised Greece for using a dispute over the name of Macedonia to block his country's progress and added: 'We would like to urge the European Commission not to regard the name issue as an obstacle to our accession progress.''The momentum for permanently solving this potentially dangerous issue

is now,' he said. 'The EU's mission is to secure peace, prosperity and stability

to the whole European region; it can only be achieved by bringing Macedonia from

the periphery to the core of the European Union.'

Macedonia won EU candidate status in 2005, but the name row with Greece has delayed the setting of a date for the start of EU membership talks as well as its NATO bid.

Greece objects to the use of the name Macedonia, which is also the name of its own northern province, birthplace of national hero Alexander the Great. It says use of the name by its neighbour implies territorial ambitions.

The tiny Balkan state is known at the United Nations and other international bodies as the 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia', pending a settlement of U.N.-led talks with Greece.

On Thursday the European Commission -- the EU executive -- said Macedonia also needed to clean up its internal politics, including the way elections are conducted, to secure the start of membership talks.

Macedonia's general election in June was marred by violence and intimidation in mainly ethnic Albanian areas, posing a question mark over its ability to meet criteria to join the EU such as the rule of law and respect for minorities.