Greece, Macedonia Sign Pact; Only the Name Issue Remains

After 2 1/2 years of friction, Greece and Macedonia signed an agreement Wednesday settling all but one issue between them and removing a worrisome source of tension in the Balkans.

Former Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, the special U.N. envoy who mediated between the two, described the accord as one of “very broad scope and deep meaning” that could serve as a model for warring states in the region once the fighting dies down.

Greece recognized the sovereignty of Macedonia, one of the republics of the former Yugoslav federation, and agreed to lift its 19-month-old embargo on trade with it. The two countries will set up liaison offices in each other’s capitals as the first step toward full embassies.

Macedonia, which had irked Greece with what Athens viewed as territorial ambitions, agreed to amend its constitution so that it does not, as the Greeks had claimed, hint at coveting Greek territory and to remove a 16-point star from its flag that Greece saw as a sign of this.

But one nettlesome issue remains: the name.

Greece refuses to call its neighbor Macedonia, for that is the same name as a province of Greece. Macedonia will therefore continue to be known at the United Nations and in world capitals as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or, as the State Department usually refers to it, FYROM.

Vance said the two sides had agreed to meet with him later this year to try to reach an agreement on this final issue.

Discussing the implication of the agreement for the Balkans as a whole, Vance said, “I hope it will have a spillover effect to a more peaceful and positive relationship [among states in the region]. . . . I can’t guarantee it, but I have a feeling in my gut that it will have a positive effect.”

At the heart of this conflict, as stubborn as any in the war-torn Balkans, was the Greek fear that Macedonia, one of the poorest Yugoslav republics before the federation broke up, wanted the Greek province of Macedonia to expand its territory.

The 16-pointed star on the Macedonian flag became a major irritant because it was the symbol used by Philip II of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great, in the classical Greek era. Greece insisted that Philip and Alexander were Greeks, not Macedonians, and that Macedonia’s use of the symbol on its flag was a sign of Macedonian claims on the Greek province of the same name.

A peaceful settlement has long been desired by the United States, which has 555 soldiers assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Macedonia. They are stationed along the Serbian border in what the United Nations calls an exercise in “preventive diplomacy.” Although the U.S. troops do not patrol the Greek border, Washington has wanted to ease tensions in the area as much as possible.

Greece had annoyed most of its European colleagues with its harsh stance toward its neighbor, making it difficult for the European Union to act effectively in the Balkan crisis.

Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski signed the agreement in the presence of U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who left a sickbed to witness the event.

U.N. officials, pleased with the agreement, did not hide their irritation over what they perceive to be an attempt by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, who met with the presidents of Greece and Macedonia 10 days ago, to take credit for it.