Building bridges, making history

Opening doors to the future: Macedonian perspective of the historic agreement with Greece on name change

Nikola Dimitrov
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia

  • This article was originally published as part of the 2018 edition of Bled Strategic Times, the official gazzette of the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) international conference. You can access the full version of this and other BSF publications by visiting our official website.

Good faith, openness, trust, self-confidence, as well as mutual respect and understanding, have been the pillars on which Macedonian neighborly policy was built over the course of the past 15 months. We decided to build bridges of trust and cooperation rather than walls and fences. The only markers we have placed are the sharp boundaries between hope and vision on the one hand and uncertainty and fear on the other.

In June last year, the newly formed government of the Republic of Macedonia made a diplomatic push to present the country’s new face, to repair its international standing and to improve its neighborly relations. The first breakthrough came with the landmark Friendship agreement with Bulgaria — signed on August 1st 2017. It heralded a historic opportunity, which was grasped, and also paved the way for a similarly open, conciliatory and a proactive approach in the relations with Greece. Following a year marked by confidence building and intensive negotiations, an agreement was also signed on the decades-old name issue in June 2018. Both agreements serve the purpose of enabling our citizens a safe space, economic prosperity and offer them a life of an ordinary European citizen. By achieving these ideals, we are strengthening the pillars of our identity, reaffirming the meaning of who we are and amplifying it with where we want to be.

Lingering around EU and NATO’s “waiting room” for years now, the absence of a perspective and the democratic decay, required sturdy action to get things off the ground and overcome the status quo. Our push for democratic change has been predetermined with the will to push tough decisions to achieve a breakthrough, especially around our foreign policy. Foreign policy is not a place for the naïve and indecisive. Foreign policy understands decisive stewardship in pursuing one country’s vital interests. In consequence, our foreign policy agenda was crafted to be pragmatic, strategic and visionary and allow for the accomplishment of our immediate and long-term priorities bearing in mind the troubled waters of today and the unpredictability of tomorrow. Kicking off the screening process and paving the way to start the accession negotiations with the EU by June next year; as well as obtaining NATO invitation, are both a product of the breakthrough with our neighbors. We are opening the door towards a secure future.

Diplomacy as the art of filigree

I often use filigree jewelry design to describe the complex negotiations on the name issue. This fine handicraft, which requires a lot of patience, surgical precision and vision, is part of a long, rich and a living tradition in Macedonia. The negotiations were guided by similar principles; a strategically patient and a visionary approach, which aims to untangle a neighborly dispute that has been holding the country back for nearly three decades. This is by no means an easy task. Moving forward has meant searching for a fine balance between the concerns of our neighbor and the respect of our identity and dignity, whilst making sure that the future remains open for prosperity and progress.

The Agreement for the settlement on the name issue was signed in June in Prespa. It is a compromise that pacifies the woes burdening both sides. Moreover, it brings down walls of distrust while building bridges of friendship, a future alliance and a strategic partnership. It allows for both sides to reconcile, grow and agree that they cannot change their history and geography, but they can influence their own (and common) future. It offers integration and sets a mature example for good-neighborly relations in the region. It will surely have positive regional implications and contribute to regional dynamics leading towards a region where countries will share a common future and where borders will cease to matter. It will also narrow the gap for geopolitical competition.

Our key message as we try to inform the public on the value of the agreement for our prospects, our neighborly and international relations; but also to emphasize that without an attainable EU and Euro-Atlantic path, the future of the country would become foggy and uncertain, with many doors closed, and many domestic problems intensified in the process. The grasp around this stance must be strong. The greater the unity, the better; one country’s cohesion is a prerequisite for an effective foreign policy.

In retrospect, I see the breakthrough in the relations with Greece (and Bulgaria) as a milestone of our foreign policy. There is no easy way out in complex negotiation settings and circumstances. Yet, the Agreement paves the way for our integration in both clubs (EU and NATO) and will stop the senseless going around in circles that keeps our hands tied in achieving progress. We need to clearly recognize this fact and focus on the way forward. We don’t have the luxury to bypass historic opportunities for attaining prosperity for our citizens.

It is our patriotic duty and the responsibility of our generation to make sure that the new generations are taken out of the pockets of insecurity of our region, and are provided the space to dream and live freely according to their own plans and visions. Patriotism means courage, responsibility and decisiveness in the name of higher goals and ideals. It also means sacrifice, and above all vision. It was a French intellectual and Peace Prize Laureate Baron d’Estournelles de Constant, whose words from the introduction to the 1914 Carnegie Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, still serve as a lighthouse for those involved in statecraft and foreign policy: “…The real culprits are those who sacrifice the general interest to their own personal interest which they so little understand, and who hold up to their country a sterile policy of conflict and reprisals. In reality there is no salvation, no way out either for small states or for great countries except by union and conciliation.” [1]


[1] See: Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars (Carnegie Endowment For International Peace: Publication №4, 1914)


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Bled Strategic Forum

The official Medium publication of Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) — a platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from private & public sector. Organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Centre for European Perspective (CEP).

Bled Strategic Forum

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A platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from private & public sector. Organised by Slovenian MFA & Centre for European Perspective (CEP).

Bled Strategic Forum

The official Medium publication of Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) — a platform for high-level strategic dialogue among leaders from private & public sector. Organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Centre for European Perspective (CEP).

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