The US Diplomat Matthew Nimetz has spent 25 years of his professional career as a Mediator in the name dispute between the North of Macedonia and Greece. In an exclusive interview for the DW, he talks about this time.
Matthew Nimetz – UN mediator in the name issue between Macedonia and Greece
DW: over the years, many names have been mentioned as possible compromise solutions. Can you recall some of the more interesting names that were on the table?
Matthew Nimetz: It turned out to be easy. Many said: Let’s sit down, let’s get a name to find …the provisional designation of The United Nations “FRYOM – The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” was not a Name for a country. This was a temporary designation for a name that still remained. It is as if I and my wife have a child. We have not found out the name yet. In the hospital they laid out: “son of Mr. and Mrs. Nimetz”. That is not the Name of the child. It’s just the name until the Name is found.
If the child is but 20 years old, without a name, it will grow up in a very difficult Situation. This state has been bound to a name, which was for the country’s embarrassment. Thus, the legitimacy of the country was called into question, new problems have arisen. That was for me as a UN representative is very difficult because I had to use the name, on the other hand, is not always “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” could say.
Nimetz in an interview with Boris Georgievski
You are given the opposition to the agreement, both in the North of Macedonia, as well as in Greece, in particular, in the case of the opposition parties and the nationalists, for sure, that this dispute is now finished?
No one can say with certainty anything about the future. I don’t think the story ever ceases. It goes on. Disputes, which are deeply rooted, will not change in their nature, disappear completely. I think we have found a solution for the name. In both countries, people have the feeling, however, to have too much abandoned, because there is a compromise.
It is something that disappointed me a bit, but. In the USA, the word compromise is a good word. We had a fight. We went in the other room. We had a discussion about it and came up with a solution. We have found a compromise. All to say, this is great. In the Balkans, a compromise is a bad word. No one has won. People say: You’ve given up something; you have nothing to give up. Our Position was perfect, so we would have to give up anything. I hope that, even though the Opposition has been fighting in two countries against this compromise, you will now look forward and not look back. You will develop a relationship with your neighbors, this has changed as a result of an international agreement and accepted by everybody in the world.
After reading of the Opposition in Greece, the compromise is in terms of nationality and language is the biggest Problem.
Yes, but if you look at it in more detail, you have not abandoned the language. The language is the language. And I tell people that the agreement States only that the language is Macedonian language. I often think, I would have been really smart, I would have written to better the agreement in Chinese. Because Chinese is an official language of the United Nations, and it could have been in any of the official languages of the UN do. If we had the agreement in Chinese, I would have avoided this Problem. No one in Greece or Northern Macedonia would have understood what the agreement says.
I’m trying to explain to my Greek friends: you have not given it to you, that’s just the way how to use the language. Their language is called “makedonski jezik”, and is translated as “Macedonian”. The have not done I have done, it’s just the way the language developed. I understand that the Greeks have the feeling to have a bit betrayed by this admitted. But I am of the opinion that you really have to give anything up.
You expect the Prime Minister, Zaev and Tsipras received the Nobel peace prize for this historic agreement?
I think you have done a remarkable thing, because they had political courage. They said that they will try to do this. It was not easy and they have put their political careers on the line and made it. I think very few people in public life do that. There are two remarkable values men who have done something Remarkable. I think that you deserve a lot of recognition, but it’s not up to me to give you the prices. This is certainly not my role. But if there are prices, I think you deserve to receive the highest price. You take care of both their countries, but they also care about the Region and you take care of the long-term perspective, which is very important.
The interview was conducted by Boris Georgievski
The US Diplomat Matthew Nimetz was 25 years as a Mediator in the name dispute between the North of Macedonia and Greece.