OPINION

Foreign policy with a slim majority

Victim number one of the new government’s slim majority in Parliament is the effective exercise of Greek foreign policy. Shortly after the representative of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) representative at the United Nations, Srgjan Kerim, made the provocative move of referring to FYROM’s president, Branko Crvenkovski as the «president of the Republic of Macedonia» – and the thorny issue of the Macedonia name dispute was again thrown into the political spotlight – Greece’s Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis had to return from New York to attend yesterday’s compulsory vote for parliamentary speaker. With the government’s slim majority of 152, Bakoyannis could not afford the luxury of missing the vote. The brevity of the FM’s visit to New York meant she was not able to meet with her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, as she had wished, nor to speak before the UN’s 62nd General Assembly, which she had been scheduled to address today. Bakoyannis did have several important meetings, however, including talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, her new Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan, the UN envoy appointed to mediate on the Macedonia name dispute, Matthew Nimetz, the presidents of Serbia and Cyprus and US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. However, she could have done with more time in New York. It would have allowed her to deal more effectively with the fallout following Kerim’s comments at the General Assembly; her presence would also have had great symbolic significance at the launch of today’s talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians regarding the future of Kosovo. There is no doubt that the government’s slim majority limits its room for maneuver. The presence in Parliament of many MPs who have openly expressed their support for a tougher line on the Macedonia dispute puts New Democracy’s 152 seats at risk. Meanwhile, the crisis that has broken out within PASOK has made it difficult for the government to secure the opposition party’s backing for a compromise on the name dispute. In different circumstances, PASOK leader George Papandreou might have adopted a «moderate» stance but the current strife in his party will not allow him this luxury, particularly as his challenger Evangelos Venizelos has adopted a more aggressive position on the issue. There is a positive side though, for the government’s slim majority could actually be a useful bargaining tool for Greek diplomats. If Nimetz and Burns comprehend the risks faced by a ruling party with a delicate internal balance, a «tougher» PASOK and pressure from the far-right LAOS party, they may consider it expedient to exert their influence on Skopje. Athens does not have much more scope for maneuver.

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