Critical Moment for Greece on Macedonia

Greetings Hellenes and Philhellenes. Many of you are familiar with the dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Few non-Greeks seem to understand what Greece is upset about (many of Greek descent are confused too). In a nutshell, it is about IDENTITY, as vital an issue for a group or a nation as it is or an individual. It's who we are, our past, present and future. When Tito ran Yugoslavia he hijacked the ancient Greek name of the Macedonians for the southernmost part of his state ( the GREEK tribe speaking a GREEK dialect according to ALL literary and archaeological evidence) who produced Aristotle (Maybe the second greatest Greek mind ever) and Alexander (arguably the greatest Greek) and who spread hellenism to the ends of the earth, with dramatic consequences for all history. As you may know, most of the inhabitants of FYROM are Slavic, speaking a language most similar to Bulgarian. As any history book would tell you, the Slavs didn't arrive in the Balkans until the 6th century AD ---800 years after Alexander, yet FYROM recently provocatively named their international airport after "Alexander the Great".

The point now is Greece is trying hard to resolve this dispute. After what I observed on the scene in DC in 1992 as a horrible, incompetent beginning of their efforts (the diplomats in DC were great, their colleagues back in Athens were totally CLUELESS) Greece is now very smart about things and is willing to compromise. FYROM on the other hand is completely unreasonable and is relying on American indifference and the perpetual expediency of the foreign affairs establishment in the USA to remain entrenched in a total no compromise stance.

There is only one way Greece can protect its heritage, and heritage IS vital to a nation and its culture-- what ELSE is there-- and that is to veto FYROM's application to join NATO, and later, to to join the EU. If this happens be prepared for screaming, invective, insults galore. So be it. The point for Greece to make is that since the peaceful settlement of disputes is a CORE PRINCIPLE of the NATO alliance, NATO and the EU SHOULD give heightened scrutiny to the application of a state that is not willing to resolve a dispute with its CLOSEST neighbor, and one that invests heavily in its economy and generates many vital jobs for its citizens at that.