A rare opportunity
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made it abundantly clear in an address to the European Parliament this week that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) – or any other Western Balkan nation for that matter – will not be able to start the process of accession to the European Union unless it first settles any territorial disputes it may have with its neighbors.
This statement is an extremely important new weapon in Greece’s arsenal and the government must be sure to use it wisely.
What this means on a practical level is that it needs to seek a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal solution and avoid any type of interim agreement that does not lay the issue to rest once and for all.
A clear solution that includes the removal of any part of the FYROM constitution that makes irredentist allusions is the only way to go for any Greek government that seeks to protect the national interest.
