Link Banana

The Economist’s Europe.view has some interesting things to say about the ongoing name dispute between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, which has a province of Macedonia.

Membership in the Atlantic alliance has proved a highly effective means of calming old rows (not least between Greece and Turkey). It is hard to argue that Greece will be more secure if it vetoes Macedonia’s NATO membership at the alliance’s summit in Bucharest between April 2nd and 4th, especially if Albania and Croatia gain membership.

America is promoting compromises (Independent Republic of Macedonia, New Republic of Macedonia, Democratic Republic of Macedonia and Constitutional Republic of Macedonia). Greece rejects these, and wants a different qualifier (Upper, Northern, Vardar or Skopje). Macedonia says it will accept an extra label, but not a geographical one.

EDIT (3/27/2008): UN Dispatch says that the UN has settled on the name “The Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)” for what was the FYROM.