Macedonia debate in the European Parliament

The European Parliament held a debate on Macedonia on the 15 March. Many, if not most, of the participants discussed the so-called name issue – Greece insists that the country be called FYROM, while the state of Macedonia insists equally determinedly on being called Macedonia. This was my one minute contribution.

The topic of this debate has a decidedly bizarre aspect. There is no agreement on what the country that we are discussing should actually be called. I’m going to call it Macedonia.

If we try to look at the issue in the round, we can begin to see the absurdity of it all. I cannot think of a single precedent for when a country has come under pressure regarding what it calls itself, in sum because one of its neighbours decided one day to object to the name Macedonia. Note that the name never bothered this neighbour while Macedonia was a part of Jugoslavia.

This would be weird enough in itself, but to use the name issue to deny Macedonia the right to open negotiations for EU membership can properly be called inexcusable. For one, I certainly do not see the name question as one of the Copenhagen criteria. Worse, the dispute brings the entire enlargement process into disrepute. It really is time to find a solution.