Macedonia renews push to join NATO under provisional name – POLITICO.eu

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov | Louisa Gouliamaki?AFP via Getty Images

Membership of the alliance has been blocked by a dispute with Greece over the Republic of Macedonias name.

By Harry Cooper

6/12/17, 1:25 PM CET

Updated 6/12/17, 7:11 PM CET

Macedonias new government will make a renewed push to join NATO under a provisional name, in an attempt to unblock an objection from Greece that has prevented the Balkan nation from becoming part of the military alliance for close to a decade.

Greece believes that the countrys name represents a territorial claim over its northern province, also named Macedonia, and vetoedthe countrys membership in 2008.

But the new center-left government, which came to power last week,sees NATO membership as a top priority.It hopes that Greeces veto of its application under the U.N.-recognized name FYROM (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) canbe unlocked bya charm offensive towards Athens.

Once admitted to the club,Macedonia (officially the Republic of Macedonia) then intends to restart discussions with Greece over its name.Many in the 2 million strong Balkan nationobject to the FYROM name because they believe it denies the legitimacy of their nationhood.

[Joining NATO as FYROM] will help create a climate where we can tackle the name itself, Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov told POLITICO, This blocking [by Greece] does not contribute to a more friendly public opinion in Macedonia towards Greece because they shut the door to NATO, to the EU.

If we focus on the problem of the rule of law, I dont think the Balkans will be a theater for geopolitical games Macedonias Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov

We need to reach out to our Greek friends, said the former ambassador, who is in Brussels to discuss the proposals with senior NATO officials. Hewill visit Athens on Wednesday to discuss the name issue with ministers there.The nicer we are, the more difficult it would be to block us, he said.

The new government hopes that worries among NATO members about Russian involvementin the Balkans will provide diplomatic momentum for Macedonia to follow Montenegro as the alliances 30thmember.

We are a veteran of the process, said Dimitrov, who said he believed Macedonia wouldbe ready to join very soon. Doing so would, he said, have a calming effect on the region which is currently slightly shaky.

Joining NATO however, wouldnt necessarily lead to more difficult relations with Russia, Dimitrov said, suggesting he was very eager to improve relations with Russia, provided doing so doesnt contradict Macedonias NATO and EU ambitions.

If we focus on the problem of the rule of law, I dont think the Balkans will be a theater for geopolitical games, headded.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is also in Brussels on his first official visit for talks about EU membership with Council President Donald Tusk, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn. Macedonia has been a candidate country since 2005 but discussions have been blocked by Greece since 2009 over the name dispute.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is welcomed by European Council President Donald Tusk at the European Council in Brussels on June 12 | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

Yearsof political crisis, triggered in 2015when evidencewas published that former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was wiretappingthousands of Macedonians, culminated last month when a mob entered the parliament and beat up center-left politicians, including the new prime minister.

After resisting for five months, President Gjorge Ivanov allowed Zaev to form a government, under pressure from NATO and the EU, which Dimitrov said, spoke with a single voice in condemning the violence.

While the appetite for new EU member countrieshas waned in recent years, Dimitrov noted an uptick in EU interest in recent months due to concerns about instability in the Balkans. Both Mogherini and Hahn have visited the region in recent months as well as playing host to Balkan leaders in Brussels.

If Europe is interested to help us, that would be great, he added, saying he would be happy for the European Commission to lay out red lines to ensure accession talks remain on track. But we dont want to join for the sake of joining.

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