Is it Macedonia by any other name?
Tatters of Alexander the Great's empire aren't arguing over territory, but what a nation can call itself.
from the March 27, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
Unlike Blazho, Mr. Maleski doesn't see modern Macedonia's historical claims in such stark literal terms. Now a professor of international law, he considers himself a democrat, a liberal who wants peaceful, multiethnic states in the historically tumultuous Balkan.
But, he says, the idea of Macedonia is the only thing that binds the young state together, the only identity it has that distinguishes it from its neighbors, which spent the first half of the 20th century fighting over and repeatedly carving up the territory of this country.
"The definition of Macedonia and Macedonians is something that holds people together," he says. "This is a new, modern state that is trying to position itself in Europe. It's a little country in a big world."
In the run-up to the April 2-4 NATO summit in Bucharest, international negotiations over the name dispute have moved into high gear. The US wants the country admitted to the organization during the summit – along with Albania and Croatia – but Greece is threatening to use its veto if the name issue isn't resolved first.
Macedonians see joining NATO as a first step toward integration with Europe and, ultimately, membership in the continent's most exclusive club: the European Union. It was the poorest republic in the former Yugoslavia and remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, with an official unemployment rate of 35 percent.
A list of five composite names – such as the Republic of Upper Macedonia and the Democratic Republic of Macedonia – leaked to local media have been discussed for weeks. While both countries now seem to accept the idea of a composite name, they disagree on which one. Late March 25, the UN negotiator Matthew Nimitz offered up a last-ditch compromise proposal, the details of which were not disclosed but which may include a geographic indicator to differentiate the country from the region of Greece.
Biljana Vankovska, a professor at the University of Skopje, is a hard-liner. She thinks Greece has no right to tell Macedonia what to call itself and says it's humiliating that her country is considering putting the issue to a referendum. But she also says the way Macedonia's government is desperately trying to claim Alexander's legacy by renaming the airport and installing ancient statues is "pathetic."
"It's a historical fact that his legacy spread all over this area. No one has a copyright on his name," she says, over espresso in a trendy suburban Skopje cafe. "But he belongs to the past."
Many ordinary people like Blazho disagree. The blood of Alexander, he says, runs in his veins. "Macedonians are brave, we are fighters. Like lions, we will defeat the tyrants."
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