Aristotle Tziampiris

Nobody has a monopoly on name Macedonia

If the name dispute is settled with a geographic qualifier, nobody will have the right to seek a monopoly on history of the region, identity and symbols, a Greek lecturer said.

These are the remarks of Dr. Aristotle Tziampiris, Assistant Professor, Department of International and European Studies at the University in Piraeus (Greece) in an interview for Voice of America's Macedonian news.

He delivered a speech Thursday at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center and spoke about Greece's new foreign policy on the Balkans after Socialists won election.

"With the new administration in Greece, you can notice more active foreign policy on the Western Balkans and the region's integration into the Euro-Atlantic community," Tziampiris said.

The new Prime Minister George Papandreou will do his outmost to ensure that all Balkan countries join the European Union by 2014, Tziampiris said.

As regards the name-related differences, the Greek professor sees no room for further concessions by Greece though Papandreou is deemed a moderate politician.

"A compound name with a geographic qualifier for use by everyone - this is the likely follow up of Greek policy regardless of the shift of prime minister."

The meeting of Prime Ministers Gruevski and Papandreou, which took place in Brussels, is a good beginning. The Greek professor, however, voiced a cautious optimism.

"Something that lasts 18 years cannot be resolved with one encounter only. Nonetheless, the fact that the two prime ministers meet is significant and most probably we are witnessing a fresh effort to resolve the long-running dispute," Tziampiris said.

"If the name is North Macedonia - a geographic qualifier not identity or history qualifier - nobody monopolizes the name and everything that comes with it, and then we all move forward," Greek professor told Voice of America.