MPO Advocacy
What is the "name dispute?"
The "name dispute" between the Republic of Macedonia (ROM) and the Hellenic Republic (Greece) erupted in 1991 after the ROM achieved its independence from Yugoslavia. Almost immediately, Greece objected to the term "Macedonia" in the ROM's name and to the use of purportedly "Greek" symbols in the ROM's flag and currency. The dispute continues and the UN is brokering talks to resolve it.
Greece's objections are based on a national myth of direct ancestral links to an ancient Macedonian king and irrational claims that the ROM's name implies "territorial ambition" against Greece.
Greece, no other nation, created the "name dispute," has stymied the UN talks with its intransigent position, and has engaged in a program of distorting the truth and spreading fabrications regarding various aspects of the "name dispute" including, (1) the real reason for the "name dispute," (2) Greece's efforts to resolve the dispute, (3) the ROM's constructive approach to the issue, (4) concessions already made by the ROM, and (5) the number of nations that recognize the ROM by its real name, and (6) the actual name of the ROM.
The truth of the matter is that Greece has:
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failed to make a single proposal to resolve the dispute while the ROM has proposed the Double Formula (Republic of Macedonia for the world and a special name for Greece for use in bilateral communications that accounts for its extreme sensitivities) or a single concession to advance a solution;
threatened to veto the ROM's accession to the EU and NATO unless it gets its way;
failed to guaranty that it does not have any "territorial ambition" against the ROM despite its past agreement with the Serbian war-criminal Slobodan Milosovic to invade and partition the ROM;
adopted an "our way or the highway" approach to the negotiations while incredulously accusing the ROM of "intransigence;"
ignored the fact that 119 countries recognize the ROM by its real name; and
repeatedly misrepresented the name of the Republic of Macedonia as "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" or "FYROM," a ridiculous Greek-invented name that is, in fact, merely a term used in reference to the Republic of Macedonia at and by the United Nations and in other international bodies pending resolution of the "name dispute."
In addition, Greece, a nation that purports to be a modern European democracy and flouts its NATO and EU membership, chose to blackmail concessions from the ROM in the "name dispute" when in it imposed an illegal unilateral trade-embargo against the ROM rather than promote democracy and stability, as it should have if it really were a modern European democracy and deserving EU and NATO member. Indeed, rather than make an actual contribution to stability in Balkans by recognizing its new neighbor, Greece chose to cause political and economic turmoil in an emerging multi-ethnic democracy by bullying the ROM into changing the symbols on its flag and national currency.
Finally, the "name dispute" has nothing to do with Greece's proffered reasons and everything to do with its treatment of its own Macedonian Minority. Ever since Greece acquired Aegean Macedonia under the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, the first time in the history of Macedonia that any part of Macedonia ever fell under Greek rule, it has denied the existence of its Macedonian Minority. Despite Greece's efforts to eradicate its Macedonian Minority and deny its existence, such minority does in fact exist and continues to fight for its human and civil rights. A neighboring state named Macedonia is a permanent reminder to Greece of its crimes against the Macedonian People, its similar deplorable treatment of its Albanian and Turkish minorities, and is a living symbol of its failed policies.
