Zaev says Greece agrees to discuss proposed name

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) said Saturday he is ready to go ahead with a new name for his country in order to solve a decades-long name dispute with Greece and pave the way for full integration of the small Balkan country into the European Union and NATO.

But Greek political leaders briefed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected FYROM’s proposal outright and the Greek government itself, in a response to Zaev's remarks, was evasive about the particular name proposal.

Zaev said that “Republic of Ilindenska Macedonia” is the compromise name acceptable to both sides. The adjective “Ilindenska,” meaning, literally, “the day of the prophet Elijah” refers to a 1903 uprising against Turkish occupiers.

“With this possible solution, we preserve the dignity, we confirm and strengthen our Macedonian identity,” Zaev said, but added that final say on the new name will be put to a referendum.

Zaev reiterated that FYROM has no territorial claims to its southern neighbor and confirmed the inviolability of the borders. “Macedonia is ready to confirm this in all necessary ways,” Zaev said.

FYROM was a part of the former Yugoslavia and declared independence in 1991. Greece claims the country's name implies territorial designs on its northern province of Macedonia.

He also said that with the new name proposal “we make a complete distinction with the Macedonia region in Greece.”

In Athens, premier Tsipras briefed Greece's president and opposition leaders. All the opposition leaders said the name “Ilinden Macedonia” was unacceptable because, as Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas said, it is “neither a geographical nor a temporal” designation, as agreed in nearly two decades of talks mediated by the United Nations. Some opposition leaders called the proposal a provocation on FYROM’s part.

A statement released by the Greek government reflected its ambivalence about the name.

“We welcome the acceptance by (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) that a solution to the name issue cannot exist without the adoption of … a name for all uses,” the statement said, meaning that the people of FYROM could not simply call their country “Macedonia” domestically, while having another name for international use. [AP]