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FYROMΚοτζιάςAthens will present a proposed agreement to Skopje within February, FM Kotzias reveals
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Greek side will present a draft agreement to Skopje within February that deals with all open issues relating to the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and related issues of irredentism, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in an interview broadcast by ERT public television late on Monday night.
Kotzias explained that the draft plan will include a special chapter on dealing with irredentism, with references to the international and regional position of the country and with a positive agenda for developing bilateral relations.
The minister rejected a “piecemeal” approach to the problem as unrealistic and stressed that the government is aiming for a settlement of all issues in a single comprehensive agreement.
Asked whether this will include FYROM’s constitution, he noted that any agreement must be constitutionally protected through a revision of the neighbouring country’s constitution.
Kotzias emphasised that the compound word used in the name agreed upon must be in the Slavic dialect and remain untranslated, stressing the importance of this for the Greek side. He noted that UN mediator Matthew Nimetz has proposed four possible names in the Slavic dialect.
He also emphasised that the government wants the new name agreed upon to cover the full range of uses, with a clear timeframe for the implementation of the agreement, pointing out that there can be no differentiation between domestic and international use in an age of globalisation.
In the case that a solution is found, the minister said, the agreement reached must be ratified by Greece’s parliament and he forecast that a good government proposal for the name issue will find the required support in the legislature. If no solution is found by June, he added, the solution of the name issue remained a condition for FYROM’s NATO entry.
According to Kotzias, the Greek side was conducting the negotiations in a way that sought a solution and left no margins for bad faith, while stressing that a solution will benefit Greece.
He criticised the opposition for “unfairly raising the bar” and refusing to give the government credit for progress made on the issue, while noting that the government was doing “what was patriotically and nationally right” during the negotiations, while main opposition New Democracy was doing what was best for the party. He also rejected accusations of conducting “secret diplomacy” and said he was conducting diplomacy through official actors, not the unofficial actors employed by previous governments.
ANA-MPA