Greece will soon submit a draft of its proposals regarding the issue of the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos stated in an interview with Reuters, expressing his optimism that the issue will be settled.
“In life, Alexander the Great proved we should cut Gordian knots. At some point we should finish with this issue,” he said, adding: “We want to solve it. It is in our national interest and in the interests of the region, for stability, security and economic growth. It is a pragmatic response to the region’s geostrategic problems.” Mr. Kotzias noted that there is new momentum towards settling the issue, following the elections in fYROM and the forming of a moderate government, as well as after three years of successful confidence-building measures between the two countries.
Referring to the draft text that could form the basis of discussion and of a possible agreement with Skopje, Mr. Kotzias stated: “It won’t be a Greek text containing only our views, nor a done deal-compromise. It will be a text that we consider could be the basis on which we could start to cooperate.” He expressed the hope that the text will be ready by the end of February. He also noted that he expects the issue “to be settled” by June or perhaps later, saying that the neighbour’s irredentism is the key difference that needs to be resolved.
Asked about reactions he has seen so far, Mr. Kotzias said:
“Let me tell you a paradox. Let’s say we don’t reach an agreement today, what name is left? Internationally, we will be left with plain ‘Macedonia’, therefore we will have no gain, and in our bilateral relations we will be left with former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.”
“Grammatically, it’s a name which still includes the name Macedonia, which is compound and with chronological definition. So we are just fooling ourselves with linguistic acrobatics.”
Asked about the rallies being held in Greece, Mr. Kotzias responded that demonstrations neither facilitate nor hinder the government in the negotiations, adding that “the demonstrations are signs of democracy.”
“I believe that, in both countries, people who do not agree to a good compromise – I’m not saying a bad compromise or a compromise that is wrong – do not have bad intentions.”
“They are simply people who see the problem from a different angle, without taking into account the historical background or future cooperation prospects.”
“People should not be the prisoners of history. They should learn from it. They need to respect it, capitalize on their heritage. We need to learn from this history and not let it imprison us so that we can’t move ahead to the future.”
January 31, 2018