PRESPES, June 17, 2018 – Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) sealed a historic agreement. Dimitris Tosidis/ Press Association. All rights reserved. The historic Agreement of June 17 2018, signed in the Prespes lakes between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) brings to an end an international dispute festering for 25 years. The agreement ensures a peaceful future of solidarity and shared economic development for the two peoples and the Balkans more generally. It provides that the new name of FYROM will be compound with a geographical designation ("North Macedonia"). It will be applied both domestically and internationally (erga omnes), and the constitution of FYROM will be amended accordingly.
The agreement defines with clarity the political, historical and cultural boundaries between Greek Macedonia and North Macedonia. Its completion depends on a number of steps. FYROM will have a referendum in the autumn. If the citizens approve the agreement the constitution will have to be amended. A two-third parliamentary majority is required for that and currently the pro-agreement parties do not have it. If these prerequisites are met north of the border, the Greek parliament will have to ratify the agreement. Independent Greeks, the minor partner in the coalition government, are resolutely against it. The agreement’s passage is therefore littered with hurdles. However the expectation on both sides is that this almost impossible mission will be completed in the first part of next year.
The agreement respects the dignity and the right to self-determination of North Macedonians. It accepts the existence of a Macedonian language, part of the Slavic family of languages (a fact long recognized by the UN and Greece but disputed by the Greek nationalists who see “irredentist” claims in it), and designates the nationality as Macedonian/Citizens of North Macedonia. The agreement shows that respect for the identity of people is the only way to confront nationalism. The agreement shows that respect for the identity of people is the only way to confront nationalism The heated debate on the “Macedonian” issue during the negotiations and after the conclusion of the agreement in June helps us understand the contemporary work of ideology. Various arguments have been mobilised by the opposing sides in Greece: the term ‘Macedonia’ refers either to the history and tradition of the area and therefore is exclusively Greek or it is a geographical designation in which case the larger part of the Macedonian region lies in Greece, some 40% in FYROM and a small part in Bulgaria. Macedonia is either exclusively Greek or a designation that belongs to other people too. The people of ‘Macedonia’ are either a nation or a non-ethnic population. Macedonia has an independent language or is a dialect of Bulgarian; it is a geographical region or an independent state. And this is only what is argued about in Greece.
