Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said on August 31 he hopes that Greece will recognise the “new reality” in the country and support Skopje’s aspiration to join the European Union and Nato. Dimitrov was speaking during his Greek peer Nikos Kotzias' official visit to Skopje, the second time the two have met in the last two months as Macedonia’s new Social Democrat-led government tries to reset relations with Athens. 

The tone of the meeting was extremely friendly, with Kotzias repeatedly referring to Macedonia as “our dear neighbour in the north” — a strong contrast to the acrimonious relationship between the two states under Macedonia’s former VMRO-DPMNE government in power until early this year. 

The two sides also agreed to take steps are agreed on further cooperation in economy, education and security. The fundamental divisions between the two states remain, with Kotzias insisting on resolution of the “name issue” before Athens will back Macedonia’s bids for accession to the EU and Nato. However, both sides have indicated they are willing to find a solution to the problem. 

Until now, this has blocked Macedonia’s bid to join the two international organisations. Greece opposes the use of the name “Macedonia” as it has a northern province with the same name. In 2008, Athens vetoed Macedonia’s bid to join Nato. Finding a solution to the name dispute is also required for Macedonia to move forward in the EU integration process.

“We expect and hope for help and support in our EU integration and we want to see a friend and future ally in each other,” Dimitrov said at a joint news conference with Kotzias. Dimitrov visited Athens in June shortly after he was appointed foreign minister. 

Dimitrov and Kotzias pledged to continue contacts and meetings at the political and expert levels in the spirit of good neighbourliness and mutual respect, as a joint contribution to the creation of a positive climate in the relations between the two countries, the Macedonian foreign ministry said in a statement.

No hidden agendas

Dimitrov said he had a long conversation with Kotzias and assured his Greek colleague that Macedonia does not have any hidden agendas, news agency MIA reported.

The meeting was mostly focused on building mutual confidence as a basis of friendship rather than talks on the name solution.

“I re-affirmed that our foreign policy priorities are to maintain good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation in line with the EU orientation,” Dimitrov said.

Dimitrov added that relations with Athens had a special meaning for Macedonia, including good economic cooperation, stability and prosperity of the whole region.

At the news conference, Kotzias said that Greece wants stability in both countries, adding that accession of the whole region, particularly Macedonia, to Nato will be good for the region.

However, Kotzias underlined that if Macedonia wants to become part of Nato it should implement the Bucharest decision, which requires finding a solution to the name dispute.

“We want to see our dear northern neighbour joining Nato and the EU, but for that to happen it must be in accordance to EU and Nato rules,” Kotzias was cited as saying.

Kotzias also underlined that there have been positive results from the confidence building measures so far, and that relations are improving faster than with other neighbours.

“We will build pipelines, launch cooperation between universities and will establish cooperation between police of the two countries for the security of the whole region,” Kotzias said.

"Crazy issues" remain

Kotzias noted that there are illogical and crazy issues in each country, but deep down, love exists between them. He again spoke out against any type of irredentism — an issue that has reemerged recently after Macedonia’s consul general in Toronto, Jovica Palacevski, attended an event in Toronto to celebrate Macedonia’s national holiday Ilinden and addressed participants in front of a map of Greater Macedonia, which included Greece’s northern territories. On August 16, Greece’s foreign ministry condemned Palacevski’s participation in the event. 

In another illustration of the outstanding issues between the two countries, Kotzias traveled to Macedonia by car to avoid landing in Skopje’s Alexander the Great airport. The ancient military hero is claimed by both Greece and Macedonia. 

Asked about whether the new Macedonian government plans to rename the airport or the motorway also named after Alexander the Great, or to remove some monuments of ancient historic figures from downtown Skopje, Dimitrov said that the government does not strive for “Greater Macedonia” but for “Greater Europe”.

“I don’t think it’s wise to base our foreign and domestic policy on historic persons who lived 2,000 year ago. We learnt some lessons in the last few years. We can’t change the past, but we can change the present and open up our future,” Dimitrov said.

The previous VMRO-DPMNE-led government erected a number of statutes in Skopje including one of Alexander the Great, in a move that infuriated Greece. The statues were part of the project to revamp the capital that cost over €700mn.

“I can’t speak specifically about plans to remove certain statues, but I don’t need hundreds of statutes to be a proud Macedonian and also don’t mind when some Greek citizens in Solun [the Macedonian name for Thessaloniki] call themselves Macedonians,” Dimitrov said.

Kotzias also met Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and other top officials in the country.

During Dimitrov’s visit to Athens in June, Kotzias said that Greece is insisting on finding a permanent solution to the name dispute with Macedonia in a bid to help support its northern neighbour to become part of the EU and Nato.