All the things that we've been through, You should understand me like I understand you.

These are awkward times currently for everybody in Macedonia, or maybe I should say Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, New Macedonia, Upper Macedonia, Slavo-Macedonia, Nova Makedonija, Macedonia (Skopje), Vardar Republic, FYROM, Republika Makedonija–Skopje, Republika Makedonia or Republic of Skopje. The international community is now showing signs of caving in to the bully-boy tactics of Greece regarding Macedonia's name dispute. Currently, Macedonia wishes to officially name itself Republic of Macedonia, a stance which has been recognised by all of the former Yugoslav countries and world powers like Russia, China, the United States and the united Kingdom. Greece protests against this name, arguing that it implies claims upon the Greek Macedonian territories and the history which accompanies them and believes that the country can be called whatever it wishes so long as the name Macedonia is not included.

Until now there has generally been widespread support for Macedonia against the small minded Greek viewpoint. The interim name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is awkward and unwieldy, and as far back as 1993 the Danish Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen described the Greeks as being "ridiculous" in their behaviour. The tides have turned though and this week Jaap de Hoop Scheffer the NATO Secretary General said that the onus must now lie with the Macedonians to make compromises if they wish to progress with their planned membership of the organisation. He argued that Greece has a strong history of good work within NATO whereas Macedonia is merely an aspiring member, and thus the Greek concerns must take precedence. Clearly this is a very dangerous path to go down, and had such an ethos based on longstanding institutions somehow having greater rights been followed in the Balkans in other situations then we would still see Milosevic ruling over Greater Serboslavia.

Greece fears that Macedonia is trying to gradually usurp Hellenic territory through the use of symbolism. One must remember though that Macedonia was previously known in official circles as Southern Serbia until Tito took to work with making a Macedonian national conscience more widespread outside of academic and revolutionary circles. Today that national conscience exists in reality, as shown for example in the national grief at the death of Toše Proeski who was very much a figurehead in the country. For Greece to try and undo more that 60 years of development for purely selfish reasons against the Macedonians in nothing short of childish and impossible.

It would be wrong to say that Macedonia has always been sensitive to Greek concerns though. The country's original flag featured the Macedonian Vergina sun on a red background, identical to the Greek flag of Macedonia which is set on a blue background. This is a symbol of ancient Macedon that was ruled over by Alexander the Great, and the territory of the Macedon state is almost exclusively in modern-day Greece, with more actually found in Albania than Macedonia. Macedonia changed its flag to a more abstract design but has courted controversy recently by renaming Skopje's airport after Alexander the Great. Given that Alexander the Great died in 323BC and the Slavs only arrived in the Balkans during the 6th Century this seems somewhat anachronistic. There are, after all, plenty of famous Macedonians who have lived during the existence of the modern Macedonian entity, Darko Pančev and Toše Proeski being two examples as well as the ethnically Albanian Mother Teresa who was born in Skopje.

Complaints against Greece lie primarily in the pettiness of its arguments. Greece's borders are firm and certainly not likely to be crossed by an invading army of Macedonians who are focused on charming the West rather than irritating it as they seek NATO and EU membership. One example of the all too common cases in which Greece has been pointlessly stubborn can be seen in where the Macedonian seat should be placed in the United Nations. Macedonia, as is understandable, wished to sit with other countries that have names beginning with M, Greece caused a fuss though and said that Macedonia must be placed under F in accordance with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Fearing that this would imply a permanent acceptance of this interim name the Macedonians refused and a compromise was reached whereby Macedonia would sit next to Thailand as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Needless to say, the United States and the United Kingdom are both placed under U rather than T.

Given the current instability which looms over the entire Balkan region, it seems highly irresponsible of the Greeks, as a relatively affluent country, to try and hinder the progress of Macedonia, a poor but democratically aspiring country which unlike Serbia wishes to bring itself closer to the West and encourages stability. Greek opposition is likely to infuriate Macedonian nationalists and this in turn could lead to a repeat of the bloody clashes that occurred in 2001 against the republic's Albanian minority. It seems that it is time for Greece to step down from its pedestal and start playing a more responsible and mature role in the region, something which for sometime it has tried to avoid as it promotes itself as a Mediterranean nation rather than being part of the Balkans. Out of defiance maybe Macedonia can ask for Greece to be forced to change its name to The Former Ottoman Hellenic Republic of Athens?