For 27 years, the Special Envoy of United Nations for the Macedonia name dispute, Matthew Nimetz, has been playing with the Rubik’s Cube. For 27 years, Nimetz has been trying to solve the cube’s mystery but ends up in the same long trail, in a vicious circle. He keeps producing the same results through the same wrong turns.
In New York, Nimetz has reportedly presented the representatives of Greece and FYROM his list of name proposals. Five in total.
According to Vima.gr, these five name variationa in Slavic rendition allegedly are:
• Republika Nova Makedonija (Republic of New Macedonia)
• Republika Severna Makedonija (Republic of Northern Macedonia)
• Republika Gorna Makedonija (Republic of Upper Macedonia)
• Republika Vardarska Makedonija (Republic of Vardar Macedonia)
• Republika Makedonija (Skopje) [Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)]
The short form of the names, without the word republic preceding them, are
Nova Makedonija,
Severna Makedonija,
Gorna Makedonija,
Vardarska Makedonija και
Makedonija (Skopje)
Nimetz’s proposals do not mention the issue of identity, To Vima notes.
The Nimetz package also proposes that the country’s citizenship, as it will be denoted on passports and official documents, be called either “makedonski” with the Slavic rendition, or “nationality of the Republika Nova Makedonija”
Nimetz proposal provides that the new name apply for all parties, erga omnes, in FYROM’s bilateral and international relations, as Greece has demanded.
According to some Skopje media, FYROM Ambassador and name negotiator Vasko Naumovski in New york, told media that the proposals presented by Nimetz were “far from a dignified solution,” that the name, Republic of Macedonia, is the basis for identity, and that he was not optimistic.
The 5 name variations as proposed by Nimetz is a scoop by the To Vima and the FYROM website mkd.mk as both published the same five names.
PS In practice everyone will call FYROM Macedonia as they already does.
Greeks seem to forget that the Balkan countries have a bad habit of dual names — a formal one and the real one that everyone uses. This was the case in Northern Greece where village names on the street signs since 1913 did not match the real ones that everyone used. I assume this situation still pertains, but it certainly did a few decades ago.
So, whatever formal name the “country not called Macedonia” adopts, the entire world will call it Macedonia and its citizens Macedonians. This has all been a ridiculous waste of everyone’s time by Greek nationalists, especially that incompetent Samaras and his failed party “Political Spring”.
The name game was lost during the Bosnian war. All the reporters and everyone started referring to the “little country” as Macedonia. Macedonia was an issue here in Toronto from the 1970s. When Andreas Papandreou was here teaching at York, he was informed of the problem with the “Macedonians” and what they were planning, he replied that “there is no Macedonian problem”.