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Will Macedonia Join NATO?

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October 20, 2010

Mark Leon Goldberg

Security | , ,

As I noted last month, Greece and Macedonia traded barbs at the United Nations General Assembly over the terribly pedantic dispute over the name of the country formally known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).   As inane as a dispute over the the name of a country may sound, it has had very real world consequences over the years.  Greece blocked Macedonia’s NATO bid in 2008, and is currently blocking potential Macedonian entry into the EU.

With the NATO summit coming up in Lisbon next month, this seems to be a good time to revive prospects that Macedonia may enter the alliance. Sally McNamara and Morgan L. Roach make the convincing argument that Macedonia deserves to join NATO:

Having been a primary consumer of security in the past, Macedonia has quickly made the transition to being a provider of security, both regionally and globally. Although Skopje does not enjoy the benefits of NATO membership, it has advanced NATO’s core mission of providing for the collective defense. Macedonia was a critical staging area for the NATO intervention in Kosovo and provided a safe haven for over 360,000 Kosovars during the conflict.[3] Macedonia continues to provide logistical coordination and support for the Kosovo Force mission.

One of the most impressive acts of good faith by Macedonia has been its robust participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Despite having a population a fifth the size of Greece’s, Skopje has deployed more troops than Athens has to Afghanistan. Maintaining a commitment of 240 troops, Macedonia is one of the largest per capita contributors to the mission, providing security at NATO headquarters in Kabul.[4]

There’s more. But the point is, the case for Macedonian ascension to NATO is strong on the merits.  (The same can be said of joining the EU.)  Still, after 18 years, the name dispute shows little sign of resolution.  Macedonia is trapped in NATO ascension limbo. Why not just let them in?


  • HAGA

    Dear “security expert” just spare some minutes to read their constitution and their claims over Greek territory, and the if you have enough time just read a history book about Slavs and Greek history and then you might understand that they are not only threatening to “free their brothers from Greece” (in their constitution) but they are also trying to steal a big part of Greek history.
    Reading is the best I can suggest for you, since you obviously don’t know that a similar case has been raised in the past by France against UK when they objected the use of name “Great Britain” just because there is an area with the same name in France.

    • EU’citizen’

      The issue is wider than the name. Why would any country want to join the EU? Speaking as a UK citizen who enjoys travel to both Macedonias (as I enjoy to both Luxembourgs, the country and the Belgian province) and both Irelands (N & S) – and I never heard of France objecting to GB – I urge R Macedonia (fYRoM to Hellas/Greece only) to think carefully whether they really want to join this top-heavy Union with its fat cat bureaucrats. Better perhaps to promote a free trade area with Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, BiH, Turkey, Montenegro. No need to change the name at all. As for NATO, this is an organisation full of more fat cats, 4 star generals etc, simply projecting cold war style US military power in Europe. The Afghanistan war, if it must continue, can go on without an organisation called NATO. Actually Greece might be better in the free trade area, but I suppose it has now destroyed its chances of being admitted.

  • Chucky

    What is the sole purpose of NATO. To protect human right of every person, so he or she may live in peace and harmony. Yet on the week that marks the 60th anniversary signing of the European Human Right charter. Today Macedonian’s world wide do not have the basic human right that this document stands for. The right to self identification! The actual right Macedonian soldiers fight for under the banner of NATO for others are not granted to them. What a Joke NATO, EU and UN are. Equality show me where!!

  • Petdou1

    Maybe you should study the issue before you comment. The people in Fyrom are descents of Bulgarians that where forced into a “Macedonian” identity in communist Yugoslavia. Their land was renamed to Macedonia from Vardarska by communist, all in the aim to grab Greek land. We americans protested. So when did communist propaganda become the truth? Why should we americans support old communist propaganda? What has changed or are we just displaying our ignorance to the world yet again?

    “This Government considers talk of Macedonian “nation”, Macedonian “Fatherland”, or Macedonia “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece.”

    U.S STATE DEPARTMENT Foreign Relations Vol. VIII Washington D.C. Circular Airgram (868.014/26 Dec. 1944)

    ‘For Macedonia to be recognized as an independent state, it would be necessary to change its name [...] It is historically proven that the Yugoslavian Democracy of Macedonia was created by Stalin, Tito and Dimitrov, aiming at the stealthy removal of a large part of Northern Greece. This Democracy was used during the period 1944-1949 in order to destabilise Greece.”

    Thomas Niles, US Ambassador, statement on the 23rd June 1992 to the SubCommittee of US Congress, Eleutherotypia newspaper, June 24, 1992

  • Ljubcho Georgiev

    Because their current Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, is an ultra-nationalist who has made overt indications that his country has territorial claims to parts of both Greece and Bulgaria. Further, members of his government have been convicted for war crimes by the Hague, specifically the slaughter of Albanian civillians in 2001. The FYROM is far from ready to join the Alliance or the EU.

  • Georgeburneski

    Countries that are members of NATO and EU should not be allowed to blackmail other countries for their gain, especially when you want to change countries names.

    eg. If two Mr Jones live next to each other, can one of the Jones ask the other to change their surname?
    Personally i would tell Mr Jones to shove it were the sun dont shine.

    • Macedonia

      …. except that if one of those “Jones” were attempting to usurp the identity and property of another Jones through manipulation of the name… he would be charged with identity theft.

      “The creation of the Macedonian nation, for almost half of a century, was done in a condition of single-party dictatorship. In those times, there was no difference between science and ideology, so the “Macedonian” historiography, unopposed by anybody, comfortably performed a selection of the historic material from which the “Macedonian” identity was created. There is nothing atypical here for the process of the creation of any modern nation, except when falsification from the type of substitution of the word “Bulgarian” with the word “Macedonian” were made.
      (Denko Maleski, former Minister of foreign affairs of FYROM)
      http://www.utrinski.com.mk/?ItemID=C7A7DD4ECD45C946BF6573284EC01164

  • Brant

    Our ancestors fought against the communist when they renamed an area from Vardarska to Macedonia(todays Fyrom). The Bulgarian people where renamed to “Macedonians”. All at the aim to grab the historical Greek Macedonian territory. What has changed today? Fyrom still continues to falsify history and talking about our Nato friends territory as theirs. Should we not fight against irredentism instead supporting old communist propaganda?

    “This Government considers talk of Macedonian “nation”, Macedonian “Fatherland”, or Macedonia “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece.”

    U.S STATE DEPARTMENT Foreign Relations Vol. VIII Washington D.C. Circular Airgram (868.014/26 Dec. 1944)

    Our historians from Stanford , Harvard etc are protesting against Fyroms propaganda

    http://www.macedonia-evidence.org

    Our ancestors protested against this communist propaganda we can see even today in Fyrom. What has changed? Maybe just our ignorance!

  • http://twitter.com/Nation_of_MKD Macedonia_Makedonija

    After waiting nearly a century before establishing the current Republic, and after half a millennium under Turkish Rule, Macedonia can easily wait out this current deadlock. If nothing else, we’ve learned to be patient. The current disagreement with Greece, is only a ‘Blip’ on our radar on the road to a FREE NATION of MACEDONIA

  • jack

    this author is a security expert?
    dear expert just let them in? there is a system in place which requires unanimous vote. how will fyrom obtain entry with unanimous vote?

    • James

      The point Jack, is that the opposition is because of their name, not an overly adult excuse.

  • Dave

    Who said this issue is just about a name. That seems to be a very naiv analysis. This is about territorial claim and about falsification of history.

    Fyrom was created with the only purpose to grab Greek land. The propaganda continues even today by Fyroms government

    “For Macedonia to be recognized as an independent state, it would be necessary to change its name [...] It is historically proven that the Yugoslavian Democracy of Macedonia was created by Stalin, Tito and Dimitrov, aiming at the stealthy removal of a large part of Northern Greece. This Democracy was used during the period 1944-1949 in order to destabilise Greece.”

    Thomas Niles, US Ambassador, statement on the 23rd June 1992 to the SubCommittee of US Congress, Eleutherotypia newspaper, June 24, 1992

    The historians in the world (from Cambridge , Oxford , Stanford , and many many more) are protesting against Fyroms historical propaganda wich has its aim to grab the the historical Macedonians region which is almost entirely within Greece.

    http://www.macedonia-evidence.org

    Where are the human rights for the Macedonians in Greece that actually lives on the historical Macedonian land and speaks the ancient language(Greek). Who is looking after their interest? They are supposed to hand over their culture and history to people that just 70 years ago called themself Bulgarians and speaks a Bulgarian dialect(renamed to Macedonian by communist).

  • Kiro Velkovski

    “Formally known as”??? Formally REFERENCED WITHIN UN as… Formal name of my country is Republic of Macedonia. The “provisional reference for use within UN” is “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. It cannot be shortened and there is no acronym. Check with the UN departments… BTW, Greece is violating the Interim Accord of 1995. Soon to be proven in ICJ. We’ll see what will UN do about that.

  • Macedonia

    What a bunch of sophist baloney.

    Where is the “slight” point that FYROM used to freely self-identify as ethnic Bulgarians in the 19th century? Where is the point about IMRO leadership that colluded with the Axis during WW2? Where is the point about the role of IMRO terrorists in Macedonia Greece during the Greek civil war. Where is the point about FYROM’s sudden change into ancient Macedonians, Where is the point about endless maps and references of “united Macedonia” emanating from the former Yugoslav republic?

    ‘We do not claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great.’
    (FYROM’S Ambassador Ljubica Acevshka in speech to US representatives in Washington on January 22 1999)

    ‘We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian.’(FYROM´s Ambassador to Canada Gyordan Veselinov in interview to Ottawa Citizen Newspaper 24 February 1999)

    “We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century … We are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians” (Kiro Gligorov, FYROM’s first President to Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA3kwC2YTq4

  • Johan

    Dear Mark Leon Goldberg

    According to UN indigenous people have their human right to protect their cultur history and traditions. The historical Macedonia is almost entirely within Greece where the original Macedonian people still uses the names of the cities and language of the ancient Macedonians(doric Greek). They still have a Greek consiousness like the ancient Macedonians.

    I have still not found a pharahgrap in UN that states if you send troops to Iraq then you have the right to take over identity and history from other people, and also make territorial claims with that name(google united macedonia and see endless claims of Greek territory).

    Today fyrom(who’s people are descents of Albanians and Bulgarians) is making claim of the territory and history of macedonia which is almost entirely within Greece.

    But that is ok right since they sent 40 troops to the
    Iraq war!!!!!

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