Galery

1

Evangelos Kofos proposed the creation of a working group in the Greek Foreign Ministry, which should involve current and retired from active duty diplomats, political scientists, businessmen and lawyers. "They, along with scientific institutes, which explore the history of Macedonia, should support state efforts to establish a new environment for good neighbourly relations in the Balkan Peninsula."

The diplomat Alexandros Malias began his speech by talking about the share of responsibility for the policy of Greece on the name dispute of Macedonia. He criticized the position of the Greek political forces after the announcement of the decision of the International Tribunal and called it disappointing, with no trace of introspection, a running away from responsibility and a return to the past.

The first diplomatic representative of Athens in Skopje said that the initiative of Matthew Nimetz to resume negotiations was closely related to "the negative dynamics that the decision in The Hague caused. This is why I believe this is the point at which the dispute has turned from a legal to a political one." The diplomat followed the example of his colleague Evangelos Kofos and proposed that Greece should challenge the transitional arrangement under Article 23, which gives this right to both sides. "Meanwhile, Greece will announce that the 12 months during which the Temporary Agreement will continue to be in effect, are sufficient to find a solution for the name and content of the final agreement." He also referred to the right of the country to request from the UN Secretary General an implementation of a resolution of the international organization that will give it the right to set as the basis for negotiations the plan of Cyrus Vance, presented before the signing of the Interim Accord. "I remind you that the text included a proposal for the name Republic of New Macedonia, as a new constitutional and international name of the country. This was the only time in the history of this controversy that a name proposal was accepted with a decision of the Security Council of the United Nations. In fact, we must recognize that there are no "perfect" suggestions. When we had them, we refused to accept them, mainly based on domestic political reasons." Aleksandors Mallias defined his proposal as correct keeping in mind the international commitments of Greece, but stressed that he cannot guarantee the outcome of this process. The ambassador said that the proposal to hold a referendum on the issue in Macedonia will give the country more diplomatic power. "It is not simply a proposal by the government, the opposition in Skopje has same opinion. So I believe it is time for Greece also to adopt such an initiative, because any subsequent Greek government will have no political power or desire to bear the burden of such decisions," he said in conclusion.

According to New Democracy MEP and former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs George Koumoutsakos, Greece's veto against the NATO membership of Macedonia restored the balance in the name dispute negotiations. "Despite the decision of The Hague Tribunal, the unanimous decision of the prime ministers of the NATO member states in Bucharest in 2008 remains a valuable precedent and diplomatic resource of the country in its efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue of FYROM." The young diplomat did not share the harshness of his older colleagues on the need to immediately challenge the Interim Accord and said he was not sure whether a similar action would help to finally solve the problem. At the same time he agreed to their proposal for the establishment of a working group, which would monitor all aspects of the relations between the two countries. George Koumoutsakos stressed that negotiations should only take place under the auspices of the UN and there should be no formal or informal contacts between the two countries on this issue. "I also believe that the official meetings between the leaders of the two countries are meaningless and unproductive and their sole purpose is to have them just for the sake of having them." He also said that in their assessment the judges have ignored "volumes of evidence that shows Skopje’s irredentism, like textbooks, maps of Greater Macedonia, etc. Their arguments in many cases had flaws and were political rather than legal. I believe this is something we must consider," he said in conclusion.