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Mladen Karadzoski, Artur Adamczyk
due to the unsolved dispute over the name, was joined by Bulgaria,
which accuses Skopje of conducting an anti-Bulgarian campaign and
of falsifying history. In line with the EU’s decision-making procedures,
the European Council decisions on commencing negotiations and on
Macedonia’s possible accession have to be unanimous, which means
that as long as FYROM does not normalise its relations with Greece
and Bulgaria, the accession process is up in the air.
2.
Greece’s policy towards the FYROM
and the Greek veto in the European Union
The dissolution of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the Republic
of Macedonia on 19 December 1991 came as a surprise to Greek politicians.
Initially, the government in Athens perceived it as a threat to
Greece’s territorial integrity, as during the formation of the new state
some people had called for incorporating the territories inhabited by
Macedonians in neighbouring countries. As Macedonian politicians
mainly strived for international recognition, which would stabilise
the country’s situation in the international arena, they quickly backed
out from the aspirations to establish a United Macedonia. The newly
formed parliament in Skopje passed a declaration on relinquishing all
claims to territories held by the neighbouring countries and on having
all international disputes settled by peaceful means. 17
This, however, did not dissipate all the concerns of Greek politicians
and the relations between the two countries remained strained.
The Macedonian issue essentially comes down to a dispute over the
name and the national symbols of the new country. Greeks negate
this name claiming that the new country may not be called Republic
of Macedonia because Macedonia is connected with the historical
and national heritage of Greece, a region which was part of the ancient
Hellas. Despite the Macedonian’s reassurances of their peaceful
intentions, Greeks perceived the adoption of this name as a pretext
for potential territorial claims to territories held by the Republic of
17 S. Pięta, Polityka Grecji wobec kwestii macedońskiej w latach 1991-1995, in: M. Waloński (ed.), Wybrane
problemy współczesnych stosunków międzynarodowych, Wrocław 2008, p. 159 ff.
Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej • Rok 12 (2014) • Zeszyt 3