http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/opinion/edglenny.php
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (FRANCE) OPINION The Balkans, again By Misha Glenny Monday, March 31, 2008 This week's NATO summit meeting has plenty of serious issues before it, from Afghanistan to tensions with Russia. Yet diplomats and politicians are devoting much of their energies on something totally different - trying to persuade Greece not to veto an invitation to Macedonia to join NATO. With a population of just 2 million, Macedonia is one of the weakest states to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. It has survived despite tensions between the Slav-speaking Macedonians and the minority Albanians who make up just under a third of its population. Most members of the EU and NATO regard NATO membership as vital for Macedonia's stability. Not Greece. When Macedonia became an independent state in the early 1990s, the Greek government, backed by the Orthodox Church and populist groups, insisted that the name "Macedonia" was exclusively Hellenic property. The Greeks also interpreted Macedonia's use of the name as proof that these Slavic malcontents had designs on Greek territory. Never mind that Macedonia barely has the resources to get out of bed in the morning. I was living in Thessaloniki in northern Greece at the time of the anti-Macedonian campaign. The Greek government imposed a blockade on Macedonia that contributed to huge domestic tensions between Macedonians and Albanians. Far from assisting in the stabilization of the volatile territories to its north, the Greeks fanned the flames of a dangerous conflict right on its border. But in 1995 we witnessed a rare outbreak of common sense, and the Greeks and Macedonians agreed to differ. The Greeks allowed Macedonia into the UN and other international organizations so long as it would be known as FYROM, for "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." That was 13 years ago. The reasons for the resurrection of this issue are to be found not in deeply held convictions, as the Greeks would have us believe, but in the declining popularity of both Greece's governing party, New Democracy, and the main opposition party, PASOK. Facing several crises and a growing threat from smaller parties to the right, Prime Minister Kosta Karmanlis has drawn a line in the sand over Macedonia's name. The Macedonians have done their fair share of muck-stirring, most recently by renaming Skopje's airport "Alexander the Great Airport," knowing this would enrage the Greeks. But Macedonia's government is also wobbling. The Albanian party recently threatened to pull out of the ruling coalition. It said this was over language rights, but in reality the Albanians don't want to be associated with a major political flop should Macedonia fail to join NATO, especially since the independence of Kosovo has emboldened separatists among some Macedonian Albanians. In the worst case scenario (and we are still a long way from there), the name crisis could lead to a collapse of the Macedonian state. In that event, the temptation for Albanians to join with Kosovo and Albania in a greater Albania will be considerable - something both the Greeks and the Macedonians fear. I wish all success to those diplomats who are working to find a compromise. But I'm not holding my breath. - MISHA GLENNY's latest book, "McMafia: Crime Without Frontiers," is to be published this week. [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:letters%40iht.com> __._,_.___
