Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia
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[edit] International recognition
The Republic of Macedonia became a member state of the United Nations on April 8, 1993, eighteen months after its independence from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is referred within the UN as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" or "FYROM", pending a resolution, to the long-running dispute about the country's name. Other international bodies, such as the European Union [1], European Broadcasting Union [2], and the International Olympic Committee [3] have adopted the same convention. NATO also uses the reference in official documents but adds an explanation on which member countries recognize the constitutional name.[4]
The UN's member states all recognise the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia but are divided over what to call it. A number of countries recognise the country by its constitutional name – the Republic of Macedonia – rather than the UN reference, notably four of the five permanent UN Security Council members (the UK, the United States[5], Russia, and the People's Republic of China) and over 100 other UN members[6]; but the constitutional name is never used in relations where a country not recognizing the constitutional name is a party.
[edit] List of countries and entities recognizing the country and established diplomatic relations
- [1] (see the map above)
- European Union (EU)
- Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) [2]
[edit] List of countries recognizing the country, but not yet established diplomatic relations
[edit] List of countries and entities not yet formally recognizing the country
- Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Georgia, Malta, Cyprus
- Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia
- South Korea, Taiwan (1999-2001), Philippines, Bhutan, Brunei
- Mali, Liberia, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe
- Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Chile
- Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tonga, Fiji
- Palestinian Authority, Sahrawi Republic
[edit] International disputes
[edit] Albania
The Albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, where they form 25.2% of the entire population according to official statistics, while continuing to seek regional cooperation. The 2001 conflict in Republic of Macedonia between the majority ethnic Macedonians and the minority Albanians caused some tensions between the two countries. However, the subsequent peace agreement and the implementation of greater rights for ethnic Albanians has helped to stabilise the situation.
[edit] Bulgaria
Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the Republic of Macedonia. Bulgaria has however refused to recognise the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and a separate Macedonian language. It argues that the Macedonians are a subgroup of the Bulgarian nation and that the Macedonian language is a dialect of Bulgarian. This leads to some complications when signing treaties between these countries—they are signed with this long phrase in the end: "done in the official languages of the two states—Bulgarian language, according to the Constitution of Bulgaria and Macedonian language, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia".
Bulgaria gives the Macedonians the right to obtain Bulgarian citizenship: according to the Bulgarian ministry of interior, over 100,000 have applied.[citation needed]
Macedonia has very good relations with Bulgaria in the political, economic, and military spheres. The governments of the two countries work to improve business relations. Bulgaria supports the Macedonian bid to enter the EU and NATO. Bulgaria has also donated tanks, artillery, and other military technology to the Macedonian Army.
The rules governing good neighbourly relations agreed between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia were set in the Joint Declaration of February 22, 1999 reaffirmed by a joint memorandum signed on January 22, 2008 in Sofia.[7]
[edit] Greece
The indeterminate status of the Republic of Macedonia's name arises from a long-running dispute with Greece, which criticizes the use of the Greek name and symbols. The main points of the dispute are:[8]
- The name: the Republic of Macedonia is only part of the wider region of Macedonia, 51% of which is part of Greece, and it is inhabited by an ethnic group of Slavic origin, unrelated to the Ancient Macedonians.
- The flag: the use of a symbol found in Greece (resolved, see below).
- Constitutional issues: certain articles of the constitution that were seen as claims on Greek territory (resolved, see below).
The naming issue was "parked" in a compromise agreed at the United Nations in 1993. However, Greece refused to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic and imposed an economic blockade that lasted until the flag and constitutional issues were resolved in 1995.
[edit] Naming issue
[edit] Flag issue
Republic of Macedonia's first post-independence flag caused a major controversy when it was unveiled. The use of the Vergina Sun on the flag offended Greeks, as they regarded the symbol as being associated with King Philip II of Macedon and by extension with his son, Alexander the Great. The Greek viewpoint was summed up in an FAQ circulated on the Internet in the late 1990s:
- The Vergina Sun, the emblem of Philip's dynasty, symbolizes the birth of our nation. It was the first time (4th century BC) that the Greek mainland (city-states and kingdoms) with the same language, culture, and religion were united against the enemies of Asia in one league. At the same time the fractured Greek world grew conscious of its unity. And, in this sense, we have never been apart since then. The "Sun" was excavated in Greece in 1978, and it is sacred to us.[9]
The symbol was removed from the flag under an agreement reached between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece in September 1995. The Republic agreed to meet a number of Greek demands for changes to its national symbols and constitution, while Greece agreed to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic and end its economic blockade.[10]
[edit] Constitutional issue
The Republic of Macedonia's first post-independence constitution, adopted on November 17, 1991 included a number of clauses that Greece interpreted as promoting secessionist sentiment among the Slavophone population of northern Greece, and making irredentist claims on Greek territory. Article 49 of the constitution caused particular concern. It read:
- (1) The Republic cares for the status and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian expatriates, assists their cultural development and promotes links with them. In the exercise of this concern the Republic will not interfere in the sovereign rights of other states or in their internal affairs.
- (2) The Republic cares for the cultural, economic and social rights of the citizens of the Republic abroad. [11]
The Greek government interpreted this as a licence for the Republic of Macedonia to interfere in Greek internal affairs. Given long-standing Greek sensitivities over the position of the country's minority groups, the government saw this as being the most serious of the three main issues affecting relations between the two countries; the issue of the republic's symbols, by contrast, was seen as being of much less substantive importance, even though it aroused the loudest political controversy. The Greek prime minister at the time, Constantine Mitsotakis, later commented that
- What concerned me from the very first moment was not the name of the state. The problem for me was that [we should not allow] the creation of a second minority problem in the area of western [Greek] Macedonia [the first minority being the turkish-speaking Greeks of eastern Thrace]. My main aim was to convince the Republic to declare that there is no Slavomacedonian minority in Greece. This was the real key of our difference with Skopje. [12]
The offending articles were removed under the 1995 agreement between the two sides.
[edit] Serbia
A February 2001 agreement with Serbia and Montenegro settled the alignment of the boundary between the two countries, mandating implementation within two years. However, ethnic Albanians on both sides of the border have expressed opposition to the agreement due to the imposition of tighter border controls and the transfer of some territory to the Macedonian side. Approximately 2400 acres of territory that was due to be transferred to the Republic of Macedonia from Kosovo has not occurred due to disagreements between the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General and the Provisional Self-Government of Kosovo
[edit] References
This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
- ^ European Commission. Background information - The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ European Broadcasting Union. Members' Logos. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ International Olympic Committee. LIST OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES PARTICIPATING IN THE XIX OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES IN SALT LAKE CITY. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. "The situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is critical". Retrieved on 2006-10-01.
- ^ "US snubs Greece over Macedonia" (HTML), BBC News Online, 4 Nov 2004. Retrieved on 2006-10-01. (english)
- ^ "Naming the solution", Kathimerini English edition, 16 September 2005
- ^ Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia: Recommendations on the development of good neighbourly relations following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and in the context of NATO and EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2008. 80 pp. (Trilingual publication in Bulgarian, Macedonian and English) ISBN 978-954-92032-2-6
- ^ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; "A Name for a Conflict or a Conflict for a Name? An Analysis of Greece's Dispute with FYROM”,. 24 (1996) Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 285. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ Never Say Never Again (1998-11-15). "Macedonian FAQ (Hellenic)". alt.religion.christian.east-orthodox. (Web link). Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
- ^ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; "FYROM's Dispute with Greece Revisited”. in: Kourvetaris et al (eds.), The New Balkans, East European Monographs: Columbia University Press, 2002, p. 85.
- ^ Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, adopted 17 November 1991, amended on 6 January 1992
- ^ Constantine Mitsotakis, quoted in Tom Gallagher, The Balkans In The New Millennium: in the shadow of war and peace, p. 6. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0415349400
[edit] External links
- Letter from Greek Foreign Minister Antonis Samaras to his EU counterparts, 17 January 1992
- Former YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA AND GREECE: The name issue, via the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Athens-Skopje: An Uneasy Symbiosis, 1995-2002 Greek View of 1995 Interim Agreement
- Interim Accord between the Hellenic Republic and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 13 September 1995
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia
