SKOPJE, SEPTEMBER 18, 1995 (MIC)
The President of the Republic of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov gave an interview for the Macedonian television on Saturday, on the occasion of the signing of the INTERIM ACCORD between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece. Among the rest, the President said: "It must be said that this dispute is the dispute of the century. Back from the Balkan wars, then the First World War, when it was believed that the Macedonian question was definitely resolved. However, the Second World War took place then, and our nation succeeded in realizing one of its ideals, to create the Republic of Macedonia, although within the framework of a federation, a joint state, but with the status of a separate state. That is that turning point, which a number of countries tried to dispute even back then, but it was also a done deal, we were on the right side. We liberated ourselves and created our own state at the session of ASNOM (tran. note Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia) and those who eventually disputed this were left with, to put it this way, the consolation that it was still a part of another state, so it had no international legal significance.
After the break up of Yugoslavia, when we declared our independence with the referendum, which was also disputed, and when the Buddinter commission said Macedonia fulfilled all the conditions for recognition, it became apparent that this state was definitely being born and all forms of opposition could be expected. Then there's nothing else left, not only in this case, but also in any other case when two countries are in a dispute, than to seek for a reasonable compromise, to find that line where the interests of both sides meet, and the dispute can be taken off the daily agenda.
One day, of course, all the documents will be made public and people will be able to see, from a historic point of view, that there was never any secret diplomacy in this case.
On the other hand, the embargo was legally lifted with the signing of the agreement and with Cyrus Vance's statement, who said he was authorized by the Greek side and our side to announce that the signing of the agreement signifies the lifting of the embargo.
I must say we didn't come across any understanding over the flag. Not because of reasons like whose the flag is, and that then they decided it belonged to the Greeks, but from a completely different aspect on things. Are wegoing to fight over something from 2,300 years ago now, and turn it into a Cyprus question which can't be solved for twenty years already. We will wage a battle for that symbol, and the following thing will happen to us: now, all our young people who are 20 years old will have to be 40 years old in order to come to a situation to live normally, to have access to the world, and for us to be able to start the process of accession to the European Union. Should that be the price of our insistence that it's our symbol. The symbol is nice, the flag is nice, and I personally felt it as such, but when all these matters are viewed from both aspects, I believe that without understanding, practically from nobody in the world, we would have waged a Don Quixote war over something which used to be the cause of the Balkan wars in history," President Gligorov said.
The special envoy of the UN Secretary-General in the Macedonian-Greek dispute Cyrus Vance informed the Security Council yesterday evening about the recently signed interim accord between Macedonia and Greece.
The Security Council applauded this act, saying that now it expected the establishment of new relations between the two sides, based on international law and peaceful friendly relations, as well as the strengthening of the stability in the region. Furthermore, the Council called on the parties to fully implement the Accord.
Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias stated in Athens on Thursday that expert commissions were scheduled to meet in the following days to review the necessary measures that have to be taken for normalization of the relations between the two countries.
According to "Ta nea," priority should be given to opening up liaison offices "accredited by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."
The same source says that after the negotiations over the name are over, the office should grow into an embassy, analogously in Skopje and Athens.
The crossing of the border is also a priority issue which will be negotiated by the commissions. The entrance visas, according to "Ta nea," both for Macedonian and Greece citizens, would be issued on the basis of form. A similar procedure would be applied for the flow of goods.
In the next 30 days, Greece will have to regulate the legal and other procedures in relation to the embargo, since the Accord foresees trade with third countries not to be impeded because of the name differences.
The leader of the biggest oppositional party in Greece New Democracy, Miltijadis Evert has condemned Papandreou and PASOK for signing the Macedonian-Greek accord. He stressed that the acceptance of the so-called small packet and the question related to the name of the southern neighbor is lost for Greece forever.
Evert announced a new vote of confidence in the Government and his party's victory at the next elections.
The special envoy of U.S. President Bill Clinton, Matthew Nimetz held a news conference on the issue of the Macedonian-Greek dispute as well, at which he said: "That is a problem that has been present for decades, from the demise of the Ottoman empire, right to the formation of independent Balkan states." He added that following the break up of the second Yugoslavia, its to-date republics, including the Republic of Macedonia, gained the right to proclaim their independence.
In response to the question as to how the problem with the name would be solved, Matthew Nimetz said "the country has the constitutional name the Republic of Macedonia. And, despite opposition from Greece, Macedonia was accepted to the UN under the reference 'former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,' but that is only a reference, and not the name. Like, for example, the U.S. is a former British colony, but that's not the country's name," Matthew Nimetz said among the rest, and, according to the Macedonian media, quite relieved after the end of his mediating mission.
The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Miguel Angel Martinez stated on Thursday that Greece and FYR Macedonia have "shown great political wisdom and responsibility" by accepting the accord for normalization of relations. Martinez announced that the Parliamentary Assembly will review the possibility of Macedonia's accession to the Council of Europe at its next session, scheduled from 25-29 September.
"That accord will contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the Balkans, it is an important element in the process of resolution of the conflicts in the regions of former Yugoslavia," Martinez assessed.
The former official in the Greek Government Evangelos Kofos stated in yesterday's interview for "Katimerini" that the Accord should also have included the name of the Republic of Macedonia.
He said that "before the question of the name is reviewed, a so-called 'second packet' will have to be opened," adding that "the issues of the recognition of the Macedonian minority in Greece, for which Macedonia has already prepared a file, the return of the estate to the refugees from Aegean Macedonia and the question of free repatriation, are all in the game." Kofos says that it is not known how many of the refugees will want to return to Greece.
Furthermore, he emphasized: "I believe that a nation has been formed over the past 40-50 years, and it is clear that the people don't feel neither as Bulgarians, nor Serbs, nor Albanians, but Slavs."
Kofos believes that the problem is that this nation takes the name of the country where it comes from, and that there are many such examples in the world.
In the interview for "Katimerini," Evangelos Kofos says that "the geographic name is the name that can be used by every inhabitant of that area.... and Greece has not allowed the Greek people to understand these clear differences."
According to the Belgrade newspaper "Nasa Borba," the President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevich asked the U.S. envoy Richard Holbrook to urgently procure a normalization of the Greek-Macedonian relations and hence provide the FR Yugoslavia with access to the Aegean."
Calling upon reliable sources, the newspaper claims that Milosevich's requests in the talks with Holbrook had more to do with the regions south of Serbia, than those lying across Drina and the Danube. Milosevich asked the Americans for an urgent normalization of the relations between Skopje and Athens, not only in order to make the situation in his southern wing "more safe," but also to provide FR Yugoslavia with some sort of access to the Aegean, i.e. permanent zones in Salonika, similar to those in-between the two World wars.
To an extent, the recent visit to Athens and Skopje can be taken as some sort of confirmation of these theses, "Nasa Borba" claims, "coupled with the expressly signed agreement between the two neighbors for normalization of the relations. That should enable Milosevich a speedy normalization of the relations with Macedonia, and with that, easier communication with Greece," "Nasa Borba" claims.
In expectation of the lifting of the Greek embargo on Macedonia, there seems to be much more commotion on the border crossings near Evzoni, among the customs organs of both sides, the Macedonia media report.
Several compositions of wagon-cisterns are patiently waiting at the railway station in Gevgelija, to transport petrol from the Salonika port. According to unofficial information, a monthly quota of 100,000 tones of petrol is planned. The first Greek composition of 21 wagon-cisterns, which stood in Idomeni for months, is expected to arrive in Gevgelija at any moment.