This article was published by Al Jazeera International.
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Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) and aides walk to the president's office to announce the Macedonia deal on 12 June |
The Greek government
faces a vote of no confidence over its deal with the former Yugoslav Macedonia.
The conservative
opposition New Democracy party brought the motion on Thursday, saying the deal
“is opposed by the overwhelming majority of the Greek people.” The vote is to
take place late on Saturday.
To survive, the
government needs at least 151 of its 154 MPs to vote against the censure motion
in the 300-seat chamber. If it should fail to garner the votes, it would fall
and an election would be called.
Prime minister Alexis
Tsipras on Tuesday announced that the two governments agreed to rename the former
communist state Severna Makedonja, or Northern Macedonia.
The deal was the result
of six months of talks, and comes after a 26-year standoff between the two
countries. Greece has objected to the former Yugoslav state calling itself
Republic of Macedonia, which implies territorial aspirations on its northern
region of the same name. If the two countries ratify the deal, Greece will lift
its veto on Northern Macedonia’s membership in the European Union and NATO.
European leaders
welcomed the deal, which comes as the EU tries to pump new energy into the
accession processes of Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia. “We hope this
unique opportunity to re-launch the wider Western Balkan region’s European and
Euro-Atlantic integration will not be wasted,” NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg and European Council leader Donald Tusk said in a joint statement
on Wednesday. “This agreement sets an example to others on how to consolidate
peace and stability across the region.”
But in Athens, the mood
was sour. Since the fall of communism, Greeks have called the country to their
north Skopje, after its capital city, and its people and their language as
Skopjan.
The deal would sanction
the country’s Macedonian language and nationality, albeit with the proviso that
they are of Slav, not ancient Greek, origin. Northern Macedonia would agree
that its “official language and other attributes… are not related to the
ancient Hellenic civilisation, history, culture and heritage of the northern
region of [Greece].” It would make constitutional changes to remove claims on
Greek soil.
“When these Slav Macedonians travel abroad, are
they really going to introduce themselves saying, I am a Macedonian of Slavic
background and my language is Slavic and I really have nothing to do with
Alexander the Great?” asked Health worker Konstantina Teneketzi. “These things
are difficult to guarantee. Why didn't they pick another name? Like America for
example?”
Many Greeks fear that
once Northern Macedonia has the green light to enter the EU and NATO, it will
return to its old habit of claiming an ethnicity with descent from the ancient
Macedonian kingdom of Alexander the Great.
“I don't think those people will ever stop claiming
our territory,” said pensioner Christos Hadjiliadis. “They think it's all
theirs. Once they're in NATO and the EU, what are we going to do? They won't
keep their promises.”
Not everyone in
parliament is implacably opposed to the deal. Socialist leader Fofi Gennimata
said it “constitutes a step but not a comprehensive solution.” She felt that the
agreement “could be accepted if the constitutional amendment by Skopje included
the adjustment of language and nationality in accordance with the new name.”
Centre-right Potami
leader, whose party controls six seats, was positive, calling the agreement a
“necessary first step... the step we must make.”
Legal experts pointed out that
it’s not up to the Greeks to disallow the Macedonian designation of language
and nationality. «The name of a state can be the object of a diplomatic
negotiation,» said Pention University’s human rights professor Dimitris
Christopoulos on his Facebook page. «The name of a nation – the identity of a
people, where they feel they belong – cannot, because it is not a question of
rules but of conscience.»
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