North Macedonia and Greece clinched a crucial deal in Prespa. Don’t walk back on it

The opinions expressed on this article are these of the creator and don’t symbolize in any means the editorial place of Euronews.

The settlement is a welcome actuality, even amongst a lot of its opponents, as a result of reopening the dispute can be a lot worse. I plead for a show of management in each international locations, Greece and North Macedonia, to face this actuality and cease enjoying petty politics with this challenge, Nikola Dimitrov writes.

The swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected President of North Macedonia, Gordana Davkova Siljanovska, triggered an uproar in Athens, Brussels, and lots of different European capitals.

Not as a result of she is the first-ever feminine president of the nation or as a result of she simply gained a landslide victory. It additionally wasn’t about one thing she mentioned. Really, it was about what she didn’t say.

Whereas taking her oath of workplace, President Davkova omitted the directional adjective “North” and mentioned simply “Macedonia” regardless of signing a proper oath underneath her nation’s constitutional identify on the identical day.

But, on condition that she campaigned on a pledge to respect however not pronounce the complete constitutional identify of the nation she now leads, citing her private proper of self-determination and bearing in mind her criticism of the Prespa Settlement, her gesture alarmed neighbouring Greece.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned that any deviation from the settlement would have extreme penalties for the relations between the 2 and the European integration path of us right here in North Macedonia.

The now notorious identify challenge strained the connection between Skopje and Athens for 27 years, ever for the reason that independence of the then-Republic of Macedonia in 1991, till it was resolved with the signing of the Prespa Settlement in 2018.

It additionally blocked North Macedonia’s NATO membership and EU accession for over a decade.

‘You might be my hero, could you rot in hell’

I’ve personally spent 15 years making an attempt to unravel the issue: initially as a diplomat and chief negotiator, then as a co-agent earlier than the ICJ on a associated case, and at last serving as overseas minister.

Along with my Greek colleague Nikos Kotzias, we achieved what had beforehand appeared not possible and succeeded the place Sisyphus could not.

Assembly half means took time for each nations. Kotzias and I each obtained threats and hate mail on one facet and reward on the opposite.

“You might be my hero” and “Could you rot in hell” had been the starkly contrasted greetings I obtained in Skopje each day again in 2017 and 2018.

The settlement we signed is an efficient compromise, addressing the essential issues of either side. It calmed bilateral relations on the time and kickstarted renewed connections between our peoples, opening the door for friendship and cooperation.

You may’t please everybody

Prespa has parts which can be tough for each international locations. The Macedonian language, for example — an expression of the proper of self-determination of ethnic Macedonians — is one thing many Greek politicians battle to simply accept or pronounce.

The identical goes for the nation’s worldwide codes: we will nonetheless use MK and MKD, besides on automobile license plates.

But, though the worldwide site visitors guidelines say in any other case, these codes aren’t discovered on the highway indicators to Skopje throughout Greece. You would not even see “North Macedonia” beside the indicators directing you in the direction of Bulgaria or Turkey.

On our finish, utilizing “North” stays a stumbling block for a lot of Macedonian politicians, particularly after they must say it again residence.

Nonetheless, if we had not accepted the usage of the compound identify North Macedonia for all official functions and always, there would have been no deal as a result of this was a critically necessary challenge for the Greek facet.

For a lot of in Greece, even the compound identify is unacceptable, as they would favor their neighbouring nation to not have the phrase Macedonia in its identify in any respect.

All this exhibits is that no settlement could possibly be reached that might fully fulfill either side.

But, the Prespa Settlement, globally praised as a triumph of diplomacy and probably the most important settlement within the Balkans — the area has an abundance of disputes however few options — since Bosnia’s 1995 Dayton Peace Accord, was hampered by numerous sides.

What number of blows can you are taking earlier than collapsing?

The primary blow got here from VMRO-DPMNE, the landslide winner of the current elections. In 2018, the get together, in essence, boycotted the referendum on the compromise.

Whereas the Macedonian residents (or the residents of North Macedonia, for those who choose) voted “sure” in big numbers, the “no” votes — anticipated to come back from VMRO-DPMNE’s supporters — had been too few, and the required turnout was not reached.

The boycott saved the nationwide wound half-open. The individuals didn’t determine.

The second blow — and this may occasionally come as a shock to many readers not aware of our pains within the Balkans — got here from the EU itself.

Earlier than the referendum on the Prespa Settlement, many European leaders, together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (France’s President Emmanuel Macron despatched a video message), got here to Skopje and made a public promise to the individuals: help the settlement and we are going to open accession talks along with your nation.

Effectively, that promise was damaged. France first walked it again in 2019, with one other neighbour, Bulgaria, proudly taking on the veto torch ever since.

Politics of humiliation show expensive

Worse nonetheless, Bulgaria adopted a proper hostile stance in opposition to one of many two elementary pillars of the Prespa Settlement — the Macedonian language and identification.

As Bulgaria obtained away with its indecent and counterproductive coverage on its smaller neighbour and managed to pave the European path for North Macedonia with Bulgarian calls for, the EU as an entire grew to become complicit in undermining the settlement it loudly praised, in addition to its personal enlargement coverage.

Not surprisingly, solely about one-third of the Macedonian public at this time believes that the EU is severe about enlargement — an embarrassing defeat for Brussels, contemplating that an awesome majority of Macedonians trusted the EU just some years earlier.

Lastly, the outgoing authorities in Skopje’s gross incompetence in organising the alternative of the residents’ ID playing cards, passports and driver’s licenses underneath the constitutional identify — forcing residents right into a scenario the place they can not journey, drive, and even go to the financial institution to get their paychecks or pensions — triggered humiliation and aggravated the issue to the acute.

On the opposite facet of the border, the New Democracy authorities didn’t make investments a lot political power in implementing the Prespa Settlement. It merely tolerated it. I lately wrote that the incoming authorities of North Macedonia ought to do the identical. It seems like I used to be fallacious.

A plea for purpose to prevail must be made

What we want as an alternative of tolerance is management. The settlement is a welcome actuality, even amongst a lot of its opponents, as a result of reopening the dispute can be a lot worse.

And I plead for a show of management in each international locations, Greece and North Macedonia, to face this actuality and cease enjoying petty politics with this challenge.

Face these inside your respective constituencies who would solely settle for maximalist options for his or her facet and who’re nostalgic for disputes and antagonisms.

Remind them that they’ve misplaced. And push ahead with the complete implementation of the Prespa Settlement, together with the difficult and typically painful steps.

Management can also be desperately wanted on the EU facet. Ship in your promise, restrict the ridiculous variety of veto alternatives within the accession course of, and don’t fall prey to the domestically pushed past-century whims of any single member state on issues that actually matter.

Be a power for good, and don’t undermine however reasonably amplify the efforts of those that have invested political capital in fixing intractable disputes.

Nikola Dimitrov is a diplomat, think-tanker and political activist from North Macedonia. As Overseas Minister, he negotiated and signed the Prespa Settlement in 2018.

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