FYROM has ‘no dilemma, no alternative,’ says PM

Nikola Gruevski: Country still on EU path, will not give up on name

Prime Minister of FYROM and leader of the biggest ruling party, VMRO, Nikola Gruevski listens during an interview with Reuters in Skopje on Tuesday. FYROM is determined to join the EU and NATO but will not give in to Greek demands that the country change its name to win membership, said Gruevski.

By Ellie Tzortzi - Reuters

SKOPJE – The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is determined to join the European Union and NATO but will not give in to Greek demands that the country change its name to win membership, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the front-runner in Sunday’s general election.

The coalition of Gruevski’s conservative VMRO-DPMNE party with ethnic Albanian minority parties collapsed in April. It had been shaky for months over the country’s reform path before Greece dealt the final blow by blocking FYROM’s bid to join NATO.

Athens objects to its neighbor calling itself “Macedonia,” on the grounds that it is also the name of Greece’s northern province, the birthplace of Alexander the Great.

“We want this country to become a NATO and European Union member. We have no dilemma and no alternative,” Gruevski told Reuters in an interview. “But we can’t do that at the cost of losing our identity, our language and our nation, we can’t do that against the wishes of 2 million people. We have a red line: NATO and the EU mean a lot, but our identity is also very important.”

Athens has threatened to also block FYROM’s path to the EU unless the country agrees to a composite name that Athens approves. Gruevski said he is optimistic a solution will be found. “Although the Greeks feel triumphant now, they will soon understand the problem cannot be solved with force, blackmail and blockades. The problem is still on the table,” he said.

In the month since the NATO summit, tit-for-tat diplomatic spats have boosted anti-Greek feeling in FYROM, and analysts say Gruevski will capitalize on these sentiments to secure a stronger mandate from voters.

Gruevski says his party is not nationalist, but a “European and patriotic party.” Its program says it will not agree to anything it considers a threat to national identity, and will hold a referendum before signing any compromise solution.

“As a European party, we will continue to talk very seriously about the name problem... but we know exactly what we can accept and what not in these negotiations.”

Gruevski said he felt vindicated by FYROM’s progress. It had been praised by NATO, he said, and the EU had signaled talks on accession could start this year if it keeps up the good work.

FYROM has great potential and a bright future regardless of the name issue, he added. “I can’t accept suggestions that if we don’t get a NATO invitation or a date for EU negotiations, the country will fall into a hole and the economy will crash,” he said.

His assurances are meant for the 25 percent ethnic Albanian minority. They see the government’s insistence on the name as a gesture of romantic nationalism that could cut off the country’s path to prosperity and undermine their own rights.

Ethnic Albanians rebelled in 2001, and Western powers prevented all-out war with the Ohrid peace accord, offering them greater rights. The West is watching for any signs of further tension, having only just steered ethnic Albanians in neighboring Kosovo to independence from Serbia. “I understand Albanians are in a different position,” Gruevski said. “They want to join NATO and the EU, but they don’t have the problems we Macedonians have, with our identity coming under threat from some of the Greek proposals. I know some of their leaders want a more flexible approach, but it is not us who are inflexible.” Gruevski said the state was doing everything in its power to ensure ethnic peace by fulfilling the terms of the Ohrid accord, but was not about to bow to new demands.