Nimetz’s push follows the conclusion of the EU Council, which said that any decision on opening accession talks for FYROM would be based on the report of the European Commission to be published in spring 2013. The report is expected to assess whether FYROM has made genuine steps forward towards reaching a deal with Greece on its name.
The proposal for the - Republic of "Vardar Macedonia"- has actually been on the negotiating table since the talks first began, since the republic was known as Vardarska in the past anyway. Vardarska was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941 and located where today's FYROM is today. It was named after the Vardar River and its administrative capital was the city of Skopje.
However, this latest proposal is different -or so the reports claim- for it does not contain the word "Macedonia", and if this is so then this is indeed a great development. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is playing a personal role in this issue, because he is determined to end this decades long dispute once and for all.
The news -if accepted by FYROM- should be viewed with great enthusiasm because Greece might be suffering economically, but it still has to operate as a nation state and as such it is indeed calming knowing that our national issues are once again a high priority on the government's agenda, unlike the Papandreou era.
If ,on the other, the name "Northern Macedonia" is accepted, then FYROM would go about its business globally using this name. And we bet our bottom euro that the international community would -in no time- be left with the impression that eventually the north and the south should unite.
This cannot happen for many reasons.
For one if we accept the term "Northern Macedonia" then we will open an EU and NATO door to FYROM and we kid you not that after a few months FYROM will shed itself of the term "Northern" and just keep the term "Macedonia", just like the Jordanians did after WWII when the British established the "Transjordan" Republic. If you read up on this Arab nation;s history you will see that when the "Transjordanian" parliament held its first anniversary -meaning only one year after this state was established- it decided to eliminate the historically weak identification "Trans" and keep the name "Jordan".
Also, who will slap FYROM on the butt for making a corresponding move after they finally snatch our signature?
The UN?
How?
By sending an army so that they can force them to respect the terms of the agreement?
Obviously not because if this was so.. Then the UN would have banished "Attila" from the divided island of Cyprus ages ago!
For Greece, and people of Greek decent worldwide, the issue of the name is not only a national issue, but also a matter of dignity and pride. And as Greeks we must push for the second proposal at all costs. We cannot allow our leaders to make concessions of any sort because we have been weakened economically, not only for the reasons listed above but also because this will immediately be exploited by our "other" neighbors at the other side of the Aegean.
In fact we cannot back down, and we must push towards this direction with much determination . We have to finally show the world that as Greeks we respect, defend and especially honor this country and its rich history, its cultural diversity and its heritage.
That is why we believe that the second proposal by Nimetz is best. The "Republic of Vardar" is therefore welcomed by the Greek people... because quite simply Macedonia is, was and will always be Greek.
HF
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