New round of name negotiations yields no progress

-->New round of name negotiations yields no progress Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski proposed to add recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and renaming of the Thessaloniki International Airport to ongoing name-dispute talks. However, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz considers those issues outside the talks´ scope.

One more round of negotiations on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece occurred in New York late last week but made no perceptible progress. In separate meetings with the Macedonian and Greek teams Thursday (August 14th), UN special representative Matthew Nimetz also discussed some new ideas on the name that the parties did not disclose. Some Greek media reported in unconfirmed accounts that Nimetz was bringing back into play the "Northern Macedonia" name in five variants.

Nimetz took a hard line in dismissing Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski´s demand to involve other issues in the negotiations, such as recognising the Macedonian Orthodox Church and restoring the Thessaloniki International Airport´s former name of "Mikra". "My mandate is for the name problem. There are also other issues, and resolution of the main problem with the name may lead to resolving those disputes," Nimetz stated.

Gruevski´s new letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposing discussion of the church issue received a cold response from Greece. Macedonian media quoted Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis as saying, "We are expecting the Skopje side [not to] place obstacles in various ways and avoid the essence of the negotiations."

Her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, said the name dispute "should not get in the way of the admission of Macedonia to NATO". Greece reportedly interprets her statement as evidence Washington is "pushing" to have NATO admit Macedonia before US President George W Bush leaves office.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church, recognition of which the Serbian Orthodox Church has been blocking, purportedly in collaboration with the powerful Greek Orthodox Church, welcomed Gruevski´s initiative. On the other hand, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski questioned the wisdom of Gruevski´s move, saying the Macedonian and Serbian Orthodox churches should handle the problem of non-recognition.

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Nimetz meets with Patriarch Bartholomew

UN Negotiator Matthew Nemitz unannounced continued his stay in Greece and met with Patriarch Bartholomew. The meeting was held at one of Atos' monasteries, in Chalkidiki.

Nimetz was accompanied by the Greek negotiator, Mr. Adamantios Vassilakis.

Despite the numerous reports by Greek Media that the only discussion would be regarding the 'name', what is happening in the field shows just the opposite.

- We spoke about the relations between the Orthodox Churches in the Balkans, and I briefed him on the negotiations between Skopje and Athens. We also spoke about peace and human rights, said Nimetz in a statement to Greek Media.

Handful of Macedonian political analysts since the begining of the 'name dispute' pin pointed the Greek Orthodox Church as a source of the problem in the name negotiations, explaining the church has confiscated over 200 what used to be "Macedonian Churches" in northern Greece.

- It all comes down to money, always has, always will. Those properties are worth money. The Greek populace, via a powerful propaganda campaign, had been and is still being misled they are 'defending history', while the Greek Government and Church fear the land, churches and properties could be returned to the rightful owners. This has nothing to do with history, said the analyst, professor at Ss Cyril and Methodius University.

Others don't view the Greek Orthodox Church as a problem, rather are focusing on Athens, though admit, the Church has a major influence and even control in some cases, over the Greek Government.

Prime Minister Gruevski today announced that Macedonia had not accepted Nimetz's idea of having one name that would be used with all countries, including international use.

- One of Nimetz's idea was for us to use one name for inside, outside use. It's not acceptable for us, and we stopped there. There were other ideas that were interesting, we looked at and analyzed, however there was no agreement on one name for all, it's not logical. We told Mr. Nimetz to speak to the other side. Macedonia for the world, and a slight modification to the name in bilateral relations with Greece, this is a good compromise, said Gruevski while on his visit to archeological site Stobi.

The presidential cabinet was briefed on the stance of the Macedonian Government, there were no comments coming out of there.

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New Macedonia: Church recognition is a political problem imposed by Greece

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21 August 2008 14:00 FOCUS News Agency
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Skopje.Macedonian Orthodox Church support Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski proposal the statue of Macedonian Orthodox Church to be solved together with the name dispute, Macedonian Nova Makedonija newspaper reports. UN negotiator in the name dispute between Skopje and Athens Mathew Nimitz will arrive in Skopje to meet with Macedonian heads of state. The management of the Church had been at a permanent meeting on Wednesday. The speaker of the Church said that they hadn’t considered Nikola Gruevski’s proposal at the meeting. Serbian Orthodox Church press center’s opinion is that the problem with the statue is with the Serbian Orthodox Church, which hasn’t wanted to recognize it under the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church.

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New round of name negotiations yields no progress

"There are a lot of issues between the two countries, some being long-term and some being short-term," UN special representative Matthew Nimetz said. [Getty Images]

18/08/2008

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski proposed to add recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and renaming of the Thessaloniki International Airport to ongoing name-dispute talks. However, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz considers those issues outside the talks' scope.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje – 18/08/08

One more round of negotiations on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece occurred in New York late last week but made no perceptible progress. In separate meetings with the Macedonian and Greek teams Thursday (August 14th), UN special representative Matthew Nimetz also discussed some new ideas on the name that the parties did not disclose. Some Greek media reported in unconfirmed accounts that Nimetz was bringing back into play the "Northern Macedonia" name in five variants.

Nimetz took a hard line in dismissing Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's demand to involve other issues in the negotiations, such as recognising the Macedonian Orthodox Church and restoring the Thessaloniki International Airport's former name of "Mikra".

"My mandate is for the name problem. There are also other issues, and resolution of the main problem with the name may lead to resolving those disputes," Nimetz stated.

Gruevski's new letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposing discussion of the church issue received a cold response from Greece. Macedonian media quoted Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis as saying, "We are expecting the Skopje side [not to] place obstacles in various ways and avoid the essence of the negotiations."

Her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, said the name dispute "should not get in the way of the admission of Macedonia to NATO". Greece reportedly interprets her statement as evidence Washington is "pushing" to have NATO admit Macedonia before US President George W Bush leaves office.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church, recognition of which the Serbian Orthodox Church has been blocking, purportedly in collaboration with the powerful Greek Orthodox Church, welcomed Gruevski's initiative.

On the other hand, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski questioned the wisdom of Gruevski's move, saying the Macedonian and Serbian Orthodox churches should handle the problem of non-recognition.

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Vecer: "North Macedonia" in five versions

15 August 2008 12:39 FOCUS News Agency

Skopje. Diplomatic sources pointed that the UN envoy on the name dsipute between Greece and Macedonia Matthew Nimitz has proposed the name "North Macedonia" in five versions at the last round of the negotiations, the Macedonian daily Vecer reported.

After talks Nimitz stated that the name is a subject of negotiations. The newspaper however stresses that it was not only ideas about the name discusses, but also issues referring to the Macedonian minority in Greece and the Macedonian Orthodox Church.

In reference to including of issue about the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Macedonia's President Branko Crvenkovski pointed that this pace could be contra productive and could cause damage.

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Adding Church to Macedonia Talks “Counterproductive”

14 August 2008 Skopje _ Macedonia's President dismissed the Prime Minister's initiative to add the issue of the Macedonian Orthodox Church to the "name" talks between Athens and Skopje as counterproductive.

"We are giving Greece a reason to think that Macedonia is opening new questions and that it wishes to block the negotiations," President Branko Crvenkovski said on Thursday.

Crvenkovski said a solution to the row over recognition of the Macedonian Church should be sought within the frameworks of current talks between the Macedonian and Serbian Orthodox churches. The Serbian Orthodox Church has refused to recognise the independent status of the Church in Macedonia, blocking its wider recognition in to the Orthodox world.

Macedonia’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, argues that the real problem lies within the Greek Church, and that the Serbian Church is only acting as a satellite Athens.

On Tuesday, Gruevski sent a letter to the UN mediator in the “name” row asking him to put the church issue into the negotiations with Greece about Macedonia’s name. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/12327/

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Name is the key, UN says

Nimetz: breakthrough only possible if Greece-FYROM talks stay focused

Finding a solution to the Macedonia name dispute is the key to settling all differences between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz said yesterday following separate talks with representatives from both countries in New York.

“I have always believed that the name issue is solvable and that if we reach an agreement on the name, it will open the way to solving many other issues,” Nimetz said.

The UN envoy was responding to reporters who questioned him about a request in a letter sent to him by FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for the recognition of the self-proclaimed Macedonian Orthodox Church. “The church issue was always complicated,” Nimetz said. But the envoy stressed that breaking the name deadlock was the way forward.

“There are many issues between the two countries – some of them are long-term, some are short-term issues – but I think both countries agree that the core issue is the name,” Nimetz added. The envoy also suggested that he has been entrusted only with the name issue, an apparent rebuff of attempts by Gruevski to persuade the envoy to bring other issues onto the negotiating table. “There is a UN resolution and an agreement between the two countries and my mandate is on the name issue,” Nimetz said.

Diplomats yesterday told Kathimerini that FYROM government officials have frequently called for the recognition of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church and for the renaming of Thessaloniki’s Macedonia airport, another of Gruevski’s appeals in his letter to Nimetz. The FYROM premier’s letter to the UN mediator was the latest in a string of notes sent out from Skopje to officials of the UN, NATO and the European Union as well as government leaders.

Nimetz said yesterday that he plans to visit Skopje at some point next week, accepting an invitation by FYROM government officials. The UN envoy was also to discuss the possibility of a visit to Athens with Greece’s negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis.

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Macedonia-Greece: Premier demands UN mediate in Church dispute

Skopje, 12 August (AKI) – Macedonia's prime minister Nikola Gruevski on Tuesday requested United Nations mediation in a dispute between the Macedonian and Greek Orthodox Churches.

Ahead of new round of talks on Macedonia’s name to be held in New York on Thursday and Friday, Gruevski wrote to UN mediator Matthew Nimitz demanding that the recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church by its Greek sister be included in the talks.

Gruevski said in the letter to Nimitz that Serbian clergy had blocked recognition of the Macedonian church because it was strongly under the influence of the Greek Church.

“An important part of the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church has been schooled, financed and spent considerable time in the Greek churches and monasteries and has remained under their influence,” Gruevski said.

He pointed out that the problem was that Greek Church in fact wasn’t separated from the state and that its non recognition was a part of the “Greek negation of Macedonian identity.”

Greece blocked Macedonia’s entry into NATO at the summit in Bucharest last April, demanding that Macedonia change its name, which, according to Athens, implies territorial pretensions towards northern Greek province with the same name.

The Skopje government refuses to change the country's name and the 17-year-old dispute has hampered relations between the two Balkan neighbours.

Before the break up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Macedonian Christians were a part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but declared autonomy in 1963.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church, however, hasn’t been recognized by other Orthodox Churches, including the Greek one.

Adding another hot issue to the long-running name dispute, Gruevski demanded that the airport in the northern Greek city of Salonica should drop “Macedonia” from its current name.

The Athens government earlier objected to the airport in Macedonian capital Skopje being named after the famous Greek warrior Alexander the Great.

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Ieronymos steers clear of politics

Archbishop Ieronymos yesterday called for the Church to stay away from politics in a comment aimed at the head of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Orthodox Church as well as Greek holy men who want to interfere in foreign affairs.

The head of Greece's Church was responding to comments by FYROM's Archbishop Stephan. He had suggested over the weekend that Thessaloniki was the Balkan country's heartland.

«That's what happens when people exceed their role,» Ieronymos said. «The Church is supposed to unite people.»

Sources close to the archbishop said the comment was also aimed at critics in the Church of Greece who feel that Ieronymos is not as active as he should be in foreign affairs. Earlier this year, he made it clear he was against the Church's involvement in gatherings to protest the name dispute with Greece's northern neighbor.

His position was applauded yesterday by PASOK leader George Papandreou, who said he was in full agreement with Ieronymos's view on the separation of Church and state.

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Fathers of Slavic script honoured in Rome

Greece reacted to statements Archbishop Stefan made in Rome on Saturday (May 24th). [Getty Images]

Bulgaria and Macedonia both sent state and church delegations to Rome for the annual commemorations of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Comments by Macedonia's Archbishop Stefan, however, triggered a row with Greece.

By Goran Trajkov for Southeast European Times in Skopje – 28/05/08

Officials from two Balkan countries paid weekend visits to Rome for an annual celebration honouring Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The two brothers, who lived in the ninth century, created an early Slavic script that later became the basis for Cyrillic.

Marking the occasion, Pope Benedict XVI held private audiences Saturday (May 24th) with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin and Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. The pontiff said the saints serve as examples for the modern world and urged the faithful towards greater appreciation of their religious heritage.

For Macedonia, the commemorations came during an election campaign and amid renewed international pressure to resolve the name dispute with Greece. During the visit, Gruevski reiterated his government's stance on the issue.

"Our strong determination is to become part of European integration as Macedonians and nothing other than that," he said. "We cannot deny our identity, culture and literacy because they are the most important preconditions for the future of the whole nation."

"There is no substitution for the identity and that is why we are going to become a part of EU as Macedonians and nothing but Macedonians," Gruevski added.

Comments by the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, triggered an angry reaction in Athens.

"Saint Cyril, all you've done in your and our Thessaloniki is dead today," Archibishop Stefan said. "Your hometown has turned into ashes and dust, not a single letter of your and our alphabet has survived."

"In Thessaloniki, where people used to speak in your and our language, it is now prohibited for this language to be spoken and to exist anymore. Unfortunately, everything related to Macedonia is being prohibited and chased away. Our country's name, church, and all that's ours is being impugned," he said.

His words made headlines in Greece, where many saw them as implying a territorial claim. Voicing her country's concern, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis called on the Macedonian government to condemn the statements.

"What happened confirms the Greek arguments, position and policy, which emphasise the need for resolution of the name problem," Bakoyannis said, warning that the issue served as a tool for "irredentism".

In a statement Monday, however, the Macedonian Orthodox Church said Greece had taken the cleric's words out of context. "Neither in the past nor now could one deny that Thessaloniki is a birthplace of ours and the alphabet of all Slavic peoples rooted in the language of its citizens back then," it said. "It is exactly why Thessaloniki always has belonged -- in a spiritual and cultural sense -- to us and to all Slavic peoples."

Saints Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. The two brothers became missionaries of Christianity and created the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe the Old Church Slavonic language. They are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "Equals to the Apostles".

In Bulgaria, which began celebrating the heritage of Sts. Cyril and Methodius during the Ottoman yoke, May 24th is a public holiday, known as the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature.

The day of St. Cyril was also celebrated in Moscow and in Belgrade. A Macedonian delegation, led by Ambassador to the Russian Federation Zlatko Lecevski, laid flowers on the monument of Sts. Cyril and Methodius at Slav Square in Moscow.

In Belgrade, Macedonian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandar Vasilevski laid flowers at the monument to the brothers in Student's Park.

Svetla Dimitrova contributed to this report.

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

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Macedonian Church Rejects Greek Criticism

27 May 2008 Skopje _ Archbishop Stefan of Macedonia’s Orthodox Church has rejected Greek claims that remarks he made at a ceremony in the Vatican last week imply a Macedonian claim on Greek territory.

A statement issued by the Archbishop's office on Monday said that his remarks had been "deliberately misinterpreted” by Greek officials and clergy.

On Friday, Speaking in the Vatican at the grave of one of the most venerated Slavic saints, Saint Cyril, the Archbishop noted that in Cyril's hometown, Thessaloniki in Greece, his work has been almost negated.

“No one can deny that Thessaloniki is the fatherland of the first pan-Slavic and our alphabet, that was devised on the basis of the speech of the people that lived there at those times. That is why Thessaloniki spiritually and culturally belongs to us and to all Slavic people for all time,” the statement issued by the Archbishop's office reads.

On Saturday Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis accused the Archbishop of encouraging irredentism and the Macedonian state for provoking Athens. Greek clergy also condemned the Archbishop's Vatican remarks. Read more at http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/10456/

Greek-Macedonia relations reached a new low after Athens vetoed a NATO invitation to Macedonia to join the Alliance at its summit in Bucharest in April this year. Athens is demanding that Macedonia first change its constitutional name, which, Athens argues, could imply a territorial claim over the northern Greek province of the same name.

The Byzantine brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, known as “the Apostles to the Slavs”, were born in Thessaloniki in the ninth century. They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic, the language of the Slav liturgy.

The Cyrillic alphabet, which was based on the Glagolitic alphabet, is used today in Macedonia and in several other countries.

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FM criticises 'baseless irredentism'

Greece reacted immediately on Sunday to the latest provocation emanating from a high-profile official from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), with the foreign minister referring directly to "outdated and historically baseless irredentism", in reference to statements in Rome by the head of the unrecognised so-called "Macedonian Orthodox Church".

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said such irredentist statements are dangerous for "regional cooperation and stability in the fragile region of the Balkans".

The latest verbal flare-up ahead of elections in the land-locked Balkan country next week came during a memorial service in Rome at the tomb of St. Cyril on Saturday, in the presence of FYROM political leadership.

Bakoyannis said Archbishop Stefanos' statements, made in the presence of FYROM Premier Nikola Gruevski, were "extremely provocative and totally unacceptable", and proved "firstly, the correctness of the Greek arguments, stance and policy, which insists on the need for resolving the name problem.

"Secondly, that as long as the problem remains unsolved, it will serve as the tool and vehicle of an outdated and historically unfounded irredentism that is dangerous for regional cooperation and stability of the fragile region of the Balkans ... and thirdly, that the neighbouring country (FYROM), so long as it remains captive to irredentist rationales of the past, cannot look forward to a European and Euro-Atlantic future".

Furthermore, the Greek FM noted that this "also confirms the correctness of the NATO decision at the recent summit in Bucharest," a reference to the lack of an invitation towards FYROM to join the Alliance.

"The least one can expect is an immediate condemnation by the political leadership of Skopje of all the unacceptable comments that were made," Bakoyannis added.

During a memorial event for St. Cyril in Rome on Saturday, officiated by Stefanos, the Archbishop said: "St. Cyril, today in your and our Thessaloniki, everything that you did has turned to stone. Today, in your city of birth, everything has been rendered ashes and dust, and not a single letter remains from your and our language. In the region where they once spoke as you and we, today it is forbidden not only that this language be spoken, but its very existence itself. Unfortunately, everything 'Macedonian' is persecuted and displaced, while the name of our country and church, and the truth itself, is disputed".

Gruevski attended the event, heading a FYROM governmental delegation.

Caption: ANA-MPA photo of FM Dora Bakoyannis.

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Archbishop Stefan’s statement in Rome is misused: Macedonian Orthodox Church

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26 May 2008 19:04 FOCUS News Agency
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Skopje. The statement of the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church Archbishop Stefan in Rome excludes any territorial ambitions. The statement has been misused, with the words having been taken rudely out of context, the Macedonian Orthodox Church said, cited by Focus News Agency’s correspondent in Skopje.

“Neither today, nor now can we deny that Thessaloniki is the native land of our all-Slavic writing based on the dialect of the then population living in that area. That is why Thessaloniki belongs to us and all Slavic people,” reads the statement of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.

Suncica STOJANOVSKA

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Cyril and Methodius Models of Inculturating the Faith

24/05/2008 16.55.32

24 May 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI received delegations from two countries today who are in Rome to mark the annual celebrations in honor of Sts Cyril and Methodius.To the President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, government officials, and a group of distinguished representatives of the clergy and lay faithful from both the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in Macedonia, the pope extended warm greetings.

The pope encouraged the delegates to follow the example of the saintly brothers from Thessalonica in a generous service to promote the values and social projects that promote the good of the human person and protect the dignity of all human persons.

Recalling that the Patrons of Europe are a “bridge” that continues to unite the East and West – and thus the Orthodox and Catholic Churches – the pope challenged the delegates to find in the incessant apostolic activity and the tireless missionary zeal of Sts Cyril and Methodius a “brilliant” spiritual witness to be discovered anew.

In conclusion the pope thanked them for their visit, as a sign of the bonds of friendship that exist between Macedonia and the Catholic Church and he imparted his apostolic blessing.

To the Vice Prime Minister of Bulgaria, government officials, and a group of distinguished representatives of the clergy and lay faithful from both the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church in Bulgaria, the pope recalled with the joy the annual pilgrimage undertaken to Rome to venerate the relics of the two brother saints.

The pope recalled how the annual celebration of the memorial of Sts Cyril and Methodius offers to all of the faithful in Bulgaria – be they Orthodox or Catholic – a push to more deeply appreciate the rich Christian patrimony of their country and their native culture.

Pope Benedict XVI held up the two saints as models in the postmodern era of a true paradigm of the “inculturation” of the Christian Faith without confusing or obscuring its essential elements. The brother saints show us how values and ideals which promote an incessant union with God – the pope said – promote cordial relationships of mutual understanding between peoples of diverse cultures, and different ecclesial traditions.

The pope concluded by imparting his apostolic blessing on the delegation from Bulgaria and all of the citizens of their country.

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Greek Church calls for partition of Macedonia and Bulgaria

Wednesday, 7.11.2007 Macedonia

Skopje/Washington /07/11/ 13:18

Greek Orthodox Church undermines the good neighborly relations between Greece and Macedonia with stunningly naive and irresponsible calls for shifting of borders in the Balkan.

The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) condemns the recent statement made by Metropolitan Bishop Anthimos of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Thessaloniki, calling for the “return” of portions of geographic Macedonia to Greece.

In the statement, Bishop Anthimos alludes to the territory of the Republic of Macedonia as well as parts of geographic Macedonia in Bulgaria.

"The Metropolitan’s comment are troubling not only to the Republic of Macedonia but, also, to Bulgaria, as the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and Bulgaria each hold only a portion of geographic Macedonia.""

A call for the partition of at least two other Balkan states by a major Greek Orthodox Church leader is simply unacceptable and certainly does not advance the “good and neighborly” relations that Greece claims that it wants with the Republic of Macedonia," UMD said.

"Most remarkably and ironically, the Metropolitan’s statement comes at a time when Greece has been increasing the pitch of its unfounded and politically motivated claims of “irredentist propaganda” by Macedonia against Greece arising out of the so-called “name dispute” between the two nations. His statement is stunningly naive and irresponsible," UMD said.

During the world conference on inter-religious dialogue, held in Ohrid recently, the participants prayed for good health of Greek Archbishop Hristopoulos, who is in hospital in the US. The prayer was initiated by Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Miloshoski.

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