The International Court in the Hague ruled on Monday that Greece was wrong to block FYROM’s bid to join NATO in 2008 because of a long-running dispute over the country using the name of “Macedonia”. The two countries got into an unsolved -name dispute, when the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia got indepentent in 1992 and adopted “Macedonia” as its official name. name – while Greeks call the FYROM “Skopje” which is the capital of FYROM. The ICJ ruled after an official complaint made by FYROM, however it dropped all other points of the complaint.
The court’s decision is certainly bad for Greece specifically in moral and diplomatic level. It could have immediate impact at the NATO Summit of Foreign Minister in the next days, where Skopje could apply again for membership. For Greece it would be impossible to reject FYROM’s application anew with arguments rejected the the International Court.
Greek media report that Greek PM Lucas Papademos might call a summit of the politicla laders in search of a Plan B on the name dispute after the court ruling. PM Papademos declared after the court’s decision:
“Greece consistently seeks to establish good neighborly relations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and will continue to work towards this direction. In this context, Greece has supported the European perspective of Skopje in many cases. However, condition for the full normalization of relations is to achieve a mutually acceptable solution to name issue. The ongoing challenges are not contributing to the strengthening of good neighborly relations and mutual trust.
Greece remains perfectly stable in these positions even after the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Our country declares its readiness to resume negotiations to resolve the name erga omnes [= rights or obligations are owed toward all] under the auspices of the United Nations”
Here you can read the Official Ruling of ICJ: ”The Court finds that Greece, by objecting to the admission of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to NATO, has breached its obligation under Article 11, paragraph 1, of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995″.
Read more on the Greece-FYROM name dispute & Court decision:
In a 15-1 ruling, the court found that Greece’s veto breached a 1995 deal under which Greece had agreed not to block Macedonia’s membership in international organizations if it used the name “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” or FYROM, while the matter was submitted to further negotiations. More than 15 years later, mediation over the name is still unresolved.
Although the question of Macedonia’s name is sometimes seen as superficial by outsiders, it is a matter of deep concern for both sides. The young country has used the name in one form or another since shortly after World War II, when it was a province of Yugoslavia, but Greece sees the use of the name as historically inaccurate at best and a potential threat to its territorial integrity at worst.
The victory is mostly symbolic but it may make it politically difficult for Greece to block Macedonia’s entry into NATO if it reapplies. It also lends moral weight to FYROM protests that Greece’s moves to block it from joining the European Union are unfair.However, the U.N. court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, did not fine Greece or order it to refrain from similar moves in the future. The ruling’s central finding that Greece “has violated its obligation…(under) the interim accord, constitutes appropriate satisfaction,” said presiding Judge Hisashi Owada, reading the written ruling.
Greece’s Foreign Ministry said Monday it will continue to block Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO until the name issue is resolved. Outside the courtroom, Greece’s Dutch Ambassador Ioannis Economides called on Macedonia “to resist using today’s decision to subvert the negotiations.”
There was little opposition from Athens to the name until the FYROM declared independence in 1991. The country occupies much of the territory in the region that was known as Macedonia in the times of Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C.
But since then, the region has undergone such complete ethnic and cultural changes to render the name nonsensical, Greece argues – not to mention that Greece has its own province called Macedonia.
Greece has long-term concerns that the use by the FYROM of the name Macedonia will eventually lead to the country, possibly together with Bulgaria, staking claims to parts of modern Greece.
Under the 1995 interim agreement, Greece dropped economic sanctions against the FYROM in exchange for agreements by the country to drop the use of an ancient Macedonian flag as its own, and to amend articles of its constitution, which could be seen as hinting at claims to Greek territory. (AP report via heraldonline)
