Portraits of Zoran Zaev’s predecessors hang in the corridor that leads to his government office. One common denominator for all of them is that they failed to solve the toughest problem that stands in the way of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration – the long-standing dispute with Greece over Macedonia’s name.
By summer, it should be clear whether their successor, the current Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, has succeeded where they failed.
“It would be good to wrap this up by June because that would encourage a decision [by Brussels] for start of EU accession negotiations. I am aware that each passing month [without a solution] will not go in our favour,” he says in an interview.
But he says that if all sides invest extraordinary efforts, this could happen even sooner.
“My wish and ambition, as well as of each of us that are involved in this process, is to reach a solution for the name dispute by the end of March,” he says. “It will not help us if we delay it because there are always antagonistic forces that are against a solution.”
The dispute centres on Greece’s insistence that use of the word Macedonia implies a territorial claim to the northern Greek province of the same name.
As a result, in 2008, Greece blocked Macedonia’s NATO membership. It has also blocked the start of Macedonia’s EU accession talks, despite several positive annual reports from the European Commission on the country’s progress.
If the renewed name talks succeed, with Greece on board, Macedonia could join NATO at the next summit of the alliance this July in Brussels. Around the same time, it could also finally start EU accession talks, following a renewed recommendation from the European Commission.
Regarding the Greek side, he says he has faith in their good intentions.
“I remain convinced that above all Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras truly wants to find a solution. I see that the [Greek Foreign] Minister [Nikos Kotzias] is also making efforts.”
“I retain the same feeling that leads me right from the start – that a solution is possible. But at the same time, we remain convinced that this solution must protect the identity and the dignity of both sides”, Zaev points out.
He is even more categorical when answering the question of what happens if no solution can be reached without a change to Macedonia’s constitution?
“Both sides should not bring up issues that would make a solution impossible,” he says.
“I am sincerely devoted to finding a pragmatic explanation for the Greek side, thinking foremost of the Greek people. Because this is an effort for a lasting solution and not some kind of bypassing, manipulation or lying to each other… “ he adds.
“In this process we must be driven by facts. I have no dilemma that when it comes to the geographical territory of Macedonia, we take its northern or upper part, the southern part belongs to Greece and the eastern part to Bulgaria.
“If we respect facts, we must find a solution. And we must not forget that the problem revolves around the name. We should not tackle things that will cause additional problems which will only bring us further away from a solution,” he says.
Considering the high level of discretion in the current UN-sponsored bilateral talks, to get a better grasp of Zaev’s level of optimism about a successful outcome, he is asked to illustrate it on a scale from one to ten.
“No one has tested my optimism in this way. But I have no problem defining it through numbers. I am an optimist, although not fully, but still I would give an eight,” Zaev replies.
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
