For most Macedonians, the name issue is more important than the country’s membership of the EU and NATO, according to a fresh opinion poll. The survey, conducted in early July by Macedonia’s Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA), shows that 66.5% of respondents regard the formal restoration of the country’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia, as a top priority. Only less than one third of those asked (26.5%) opt for Euro-Atlantic integration over the name issue.

Meanwhile, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski admitted recently that no progress has been made in talks with Greece on the name issue following the last round of formal negotiations, held in April.

Greece has prevented the international recognition of Macedonia under its constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia, since 1991, arguing that it belongs exclusively to the Greek national heritage. Two years after its independence, in 1993, Macedonia was admitted to the UN under the temporary name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The name has since been the subject of talks between Athens and Skopje under UN auspices.

Due to reservations expressed by Greece with regard to its long-standing dispute with the FYROM on the ‘name issue’, the EU’s leaders postponed, in December 2009, their decision on the opening of accession talks with Skopje until their summit in March 2010. No compromise agreement had been reached, however, by that time and the issue did not appear on the summit’s agenda.

By putting off the start of talks, the EU’s leaders disregarded the European Commission’s opinion. In mid-October 2009, the EU executive recommended the launch of talks with the FYROM. The EU executive qualifies the name dispute as a bilateral issue, irrelevant with regard to Skopje’s readiness to start accession talks.