By Stavros Lygeros

The recent incident at the UN General Assembly came as a reminder that Greece must finally speak in plain language on the Macedonia name dispute. In the pre-election TV debate, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged that unless a mutually acceptable solution is reached, Greece will block FYROM’s accession to NATO. Skopje has never been willing to accept a composite name. Time is on its side. Skopje will only negotiate seriously if it has to and only the threat of a veto can make it do so.

It took the prime minister only a few days to backpedal from an advantageous position of clarity to a harmful one of vagueness. He has regressed to the position that Greece will not allow FYROM’s NATO entry with the name “Republic of Macedonia.” It’s political delusion, if not blatant hypocrisy. Had Skopje asked to join NATO under that name it would have brought the veto upon itself. Even the president of the neighboring state has said that his country wants to join NATO under the name of FYROM. Should Greece assent to this, it will have effectively relinquished its last bargaining chip. The provisional name has become a fig leaf. In theory there is a possibility that Skopje’s future EU accession can be blocked. But this prospect is too far in the future in any case. Plus, why should one trust the government to do tomorrow precisely what it has failed to do today.

Had Athens made things clear and at the same time accepted a composite name, things would now be different. Washington’s policy would be slightly upset but its interests would not be harmed. To avoid a snag in NATO’s expansion, the US would press FYROM to negotiate a compromise. Unfortunately, Karamanlis took a step forward before backpedaling almost immediately. His phobic syndrome hampers the implementation of a nationally imperative and politically realistic policy.