Speculation Flourishes over Macedonia Name Proposals

Amid silence from officials in Athens and Skopje, most media in both countries have speculated that the latest ideas suggested by the UN mediator Matthew Nimetz during the last round of talks in New York on January 17 contain five alternatives for a new name for Macedonia for international use.

The adjectives New, Upper, Northern or Vardarska - stemming from Macedonia's biggest river, the Vardar - in front of the word Macedonia have been mentioned, plus the possible name Republic of Macedonia (Skopje).

All these proposals have already, in one form or another, been at the table at the UN-brokered name talks, which are more than two decades old. 

Nimetz himself noted that his new package contains little new in terms of concrete proposals, and that the key novelty is the different circumstances in which both sides now seem genuinely willing to reach a compromise. 

Prominent Greek daily Katimetini, citing unnamed sources from the Greek government, this week said that it seems like the Greek side leans toward the name Republic of Vardarska Macedonia for its northern neighbour.

On the other hand, according to the same newspaper, which was cited extensively by Macedonian media, the Macedonian side is more keen on the Republic of New Macedonia.

Over the last few years, proposals containing the terms Vardarska and Upper have been mentioned as possible solutions. However, they have upset some politicians and political observers from neighbouring Bulgaria.

Their argument was that these terms could imply that Macedonia has territorial claims on Bulgaria's own part of the geographical region of Macedonia, which is currently shared between the Republic of Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria.

According to documents that BIRN...