Proof Of Greece-Macedonia Deal Lies In The Details

Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jun, 2018 ) :From statue plaques to school books and trade agreements, the proof of a historic name overhaul signed on Sunday between Greece and Macedonia lies in the small print.

Overall, the deal to rename the tiny Balkan state the Republic of North Macedonia begins to heal a festering 27-year dispute and eventually open the way to EU and NATO accession -- but much remains to be done.

In addition to a referendum and constitutional revision in Skopje and ratification by both parliaments by the end of the year, there is plethora of lower-lever but equally important details to be ironed out over coming years.

- Symbols and statues - One of the causes of the dispute was Greece's longstanding concern that Macedonia sought to usurp the heritage of Alexander the Great, one of history's greatest conquerors and a hero-figure to most Greeks today.

The previous nationalist government in Skopje did just that, erecting giant statues to Alexander and his father Philip, and commissioning books that blurred the Greek identity of ancient Macedonians.

Earlier this year, the Greeks had understood that the offending statues would be removed.

Skopje now says that the monuments will stay in place, but that plaques will be added to explain their Hellenistic identity.

The 20-article agreement states that within six months of it coming into force, Macedonia "shall review the status of monuments, public buildings and infrastructure on its territory... to ensure respect for (ancient Hellenic) patrimony." Authorities must also remove all public imagery of the Sun of Vergina, an ancient symbol associated with Alexander's family that adorned Macedonia's first post-independence flag until 1995.

No reference is made to the present modified flag, a stylised yellow sun on a red field with just eight rays instead of the Vergina Sun's sixteen.

- Documents and language - The nationality of the renamed state's citizens will remain Macedonian. Greece will have some adjustments to do here, having called its neighbours 'Skopians' for the last 27 years.

However, official travel documents are henceforth supposed to say 'Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia'.

The official language -- held by Greeks to be a Bulgarian dialect -- will be listed as Macedonian as well.

But to underscore the difference from the Greek spoken by the ancient Macedonians, before the arrival of the Slavs from the 6th century onwards, the agreement specifies that the modern Macedonian language belongs to "the group of south Slavic languages." Country codes for license plates will change to NM or NMK, but for all other purposes -- such as sports events -- they will remain MK and MKD.

- food and wine - A perhaps trickier challenge lies in establishing a common policy on the designation of local products, some of whom have borne the name 'Macedonian' in the Greek province of Macedonia for decades.

This includes Macedonian wine but also Macedonian halva, a flour-based sweet of Turkish origin popular on both sides of the border.

Under the agreement, Athens and Skopje pledge to "encourage" their respective business communities to "reach mutually accepted solutions" to this trademark conundrum.

The process is likely to take years.

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