Macedonia: what’s in a name?
There are plenty of rivalries that you could argue have some sort of justification, yet the ongoing disputes over the name Macedonia strike me as totally ludicrous. I’ve come across few issues in EU politics that contain such fire as when you tell a Greek that ‘Macedonia’ wants to join the European Union. Greece continues to insist that the country be referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and that efforts to join the EU and NATO should continue to be conducted under that title, and Greece is now angered that there are plans to rename Skopje airport after Alexander the Great – see this BBC News story.
Are the Greeks so obsessed that they are the place where modern civilisation was founded, bla, bla, that other countries in the area are not allowed to use similar names? It’s not even as if this is a matter that would cause any sort of communications confusion. The country of Luxembourg and the Belgian region of Luxembourg (see image) seem to cope just fine with a similar sort of arrangement. So why can’t the Greeks come to some reconciliation with the Former Yugoslavs resident in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [sic]?
if someone has studied history
knows that the name MACEDONIA
was used by an amount of northern greek citizens
of ancient Greece
today MACEDONIA a region of the Balkan peninsula which includes:
* Republic of Macedonia, a current state, also referred to as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
o Socialist Republic of Macedonia (1946-1991), a federal unit of Yugoslavia and predecessor to the current Republic of Macedonia
o Vardar Macedonia, a region almost coterminous with the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (Greece) or Greek Macedonia or Aegean Macedonia, a region of Greece, subdivided into three administrative districts:
o West Macedonia
o Central Macedonia
o East Macedonia and Thrace
* Pirin Macedonia, the unofficial name of Blagoevgrad Province, a region of Bulgaria
nationality means membership in a cultural/historical group related to political or national identity
i can not see how there is macedonian nationality
hello from greece
i am a greek macedonian
from the perfecture of greece
all the north part of greece
is called macedonia
the name-problem is very simple
macedonia is a geographical name
it consists of 3 parts greece the biggest one
the former yougoslavia part
and the Bulgarian part
there are no nationality called macedonian
threre are people leave in the greater
geographical area
which i think have the privelege to called
themselvs macedonians
such as all serbians bulgarians albanians greeks
call themselves balkans
if you make a country in the heart of
balkan peninsula with the name “Balkanian republic”
then starts the problem
here the problem is not just a name
in greece most of the people
including me we afraid of the biggest international powers
start to create small countries in balkans such as
montenegro, bosnia, fyrom, kosovo
one reason is that there are no freedom for the minorities
but the other one is that they want a decentralized
system of small countries so that will be more easy for them
to make their geopolitical policies without any resistance
since after the existanance of the country of”macedonia”
after the years with e.u. open borders policies
someone will start speak about macedonian minority
we dont want the greece to have the future of yugoslavia
the phobia more or less in greece
is that they will start destabilized the country
by false opinions about minorities
i am in favor of a solution of a name like
north macedonia or macedonia of the vardar
also in the constitution of FYROM thre should be
clear crystal subject that says
there is no such nationality like “macedonian”
Hello all. You say that Greece attempts to influence the flag and name of another independed country. However, this flag and this name are Greek and the term Macedonia is Greek. The name of the newly independed country should not be Macedonia because it is a Slavic country. The area was called Vardar, Dardania or else in the past. Why to call them Macedonians? Because the Slavs want so? Because they are good in their international propaganda? Are they connected with Alexander the Macedonian?. If we call that state Macedonia there will be a confusion that the descendants of Alexander have became Slavs Macedonians and lost their Greekness, or that they were not Greeks. This is wrong. The Slavs or Slavoids should have a Slavic name, not a Greek one.
The only thing I find even more ludicrous and appalling than Greece attempting to influence the name and flag of a sovereign country is that the European Union and NATO have gone along with it. Macedonia holds NO threat to Greece; the Greeks claim that the name “Macedonia” has territorial implications toward Greece. Do you see the Macedonian military waiting at the Greek border to invade? Is there even a shred of evidence that this would ever happen? NO. Is this even a priority for Macedonia, a newly independent country (relatively) still developing its own territory’s economy and infrasctucture? NO. The Greek government needs to back off and the European Union, NATO, and UN need to put pressure on making them do it.
You are right Jon, it it ludicrous. Instead of developing healthy neighborly ties, we have come to a stalemate and developed a bitterness unprecedented for such a silly thing. Well, silly or not, it has a real impact on the Macedonian economy (probably on the Greek as well).
Even so, we are not changing our name…I mean, would you?
Hi Jon,
i’m also not so pleased with our ‘national obsession’ and as a jefer have come to deal with the ‘name issue’ a number of times, despite my efforts to avoid it. Although I always use ‘macedonia’ to refer to the country when abroad, I do so only to avoid arguing and not because I agree with the naming.
I won’t mention my argumentation on the issue cause i want to focus on the comparison with the region of Luxembourg : Macedonia has a recorded history of more than two millenia which i believe is not the case with Luxembourg or most of Northern Europe for that matter.
Trust me Jon, modern day Greeks are less obsessed with their history and civilization than what, say, the Brits would be if they boasted the same.
take a look at the greek foreign office propaganda material, you may find it interesting
http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US/Policy/Geographic+Regions/South-Eastern+Europe/Balkans/Bilateral+Relations/FYROM/FYROM+-+THE+NAME+ISSUE.htm
best wishes for a healthy n productive new year:)