A review of ICG’s report “Macedonia’s Name: Breaking the Deadlock”

Abstract

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) has recently issued a new report on the so-called “name dispute” between Athens and Skopje.1 Its alleged primary aim was to provide a set of proposals for the two parties involved to reach an agreement, thus paving the way for “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM) to join NATO and eventually the EU.

Its reasoning was based on the assumption that the acceptance of its proposals will help avert the destabilization of the region; will compensate the Slav Macedonians for concessions to which they were coerced to make to the Albanian Macedonians; and, finally, will honor promises to Skopje (mainly by the Bush Administration) for entering NATO and eventually the EU.